LeBron James' decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers this week came with a staggering financial cost: the four-time NBA champion is taking a pay cut of roughly $48 million from his final salary with the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the steepest single-season drops for any star athlete changing teams in recent memory.

James agreed to a two-year, $7.94 million contract with Philadelphia, according to contract data from Spotrac, a figure widely rounded to $8 million across most reporting on the deal. That comes after James earned $52.63 million with the Lakers during the 2025-26 season, meaning his new deal represents a reduction of roughly $48 million, or more than 90% of his previous salary, according to Fortune.

How the numbers break down

James' $52.63 million salary with the Lakers last season came from a two-year, $101.36 million maximum contract he signed with Los Angeles in July 2024, which included a player option for the 2025-26 season that he formally exercised. That deal made James, at the time, the first player in NBA history to play a 23rd professional season, pushing his career on-court earnings to roughly $580 million.

By comparison, his new agreement with Philadelphia includes a player option for the 2027-28 season and represents essentially a minimum-salary contract for a player of his experience level. According to Fortune, a maximum contract for someone with James' tenure would have started closer to $54 million this season, meaning his actual deal amounts to roughly 7 cents on the dollar relative........

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