The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s NBA are the most competitive and widely followed basketball leagues in the world. As a consequence, the basketball players plying their trade in these leagues are megastars who have huge legions of adoring fanbases. This has further led to these superstar athletes raking in millions from brand endorsements alone.
A lot of the prominent names in the NBA and the WNBA have made it to the Top 150 Most Marketable athletes list for 2024 which was released by Sports Pro 50MM last month.
The criteria for the list had three major points –
Let’s take a look at the Top 10 basketball superstars being viewed as the most marketable faces in 2024 –
Kevin Durant can easily be regarded as one of the best NBA Players of all time while still continuing to play at the top level and hence it isn’t a mighty surprise that he is on this list. A two-time NBA Champion and four-times Olympics gold-medallist with Team USA, the power forward for the Phoenix Suns has many team and personal accolades to his name. All this success has translated into many major brands collaborating with Durant.
Durant currently earns a whopping $51 million in yearly salary from the Phoenix Suns. In addition, he has an enviable brand portfolio that consists of Nike, Gatorade, Google, 2K Sports, Fanatics, FanDuel, Skullcandy, Sonic Drive-in, Alaska Air Group and American Family Insurance.
Durant has also invested in around 80+ companies and the media brand Boardroom is also his brainchild.
Sabrina Ionescu has been one of the leading players in the Women’s NBA for the past few years. She is regarded as one of the best collegiate level players of all time. The 2022 FIBA World Cup winner and the 2024 Paris Olympics gold-medallist has many personal achievements to her name.
She earns a yearly gross salary of $205,030 from New York Liberty. However, the major chunk of her earnings come from her numerous brand endorsements. Ionescu has tied up with Nike, AT&T, Body Armour, State Farm, Beats by Dre and Xbox. She has introduced her signature shoe and clothing line in collaboration with Nike. The New York Liberty Star has been known to have a keen business acumen which contributes to her earnings.
Nicknamed the Bayou-Barbie, Angel Reese was the seventh overall draft in the WNBA 2024. The young power forward’s first season was marred with injuries but she still impressed one and all with her consistent performances.
Being a draft pick this year, Angel Reese earns a yearly salary of $74,909. In addition, she also earns from a huge number of brand endorsement deals including Goldman Sachs, Topps, Beats by Dre, Tampax, Airbnb, Amazon, PlayStation, Zoa Energy, SI Swimsuit, Starry, Bose, JanSport, Campus Ink (jerseys), Raising Cane’s, Bose, Sonic, Caktus AI, Bayou Traditions, Intuit TurboTax, Mielle Organics and TOGETHXR. An upcoming young talent, she is surely going to be a top earner from brand endorsements in the coming years.
Two-times WNBA Champion with the Aces and two-times Olympic Gold medallist, A’ja Wilson is one of the best players in the WNBA. She was the first overall draft in the WNBA in 2018 when she started her professional career. She has also been named as the WNBA’s Most Valuable player several times and continues to impress with her consistent performances every season. The success with her team and country have led to many lucrative brand endorsement deals.
A’ja Wilson earns a yearly salary of $227,303. In addition, her brand endorsement earnings come from major brands like Nike, Ruffles, Mountain Dew and Gatorade. She also owns a luxury candle company called the Burnt Wax Candle Company. In 2024, long time sponsor, Nike also collaborated with A’ja Wilson to create her signature shoe collection called A’one.
Two-time WNBA Champion with the Las Vegas Aces and Paris 2024 Olympic Gold medallist, Kelsey Plum also holds the record for the all-time leading women’s scorer in the NCAA Championship. She was the first overall draft pick in 2017 and since then performed consistently for her franchise. Her recent success winning the Olympic Gold medal has only added to her already rising stocks.
Kelsey Plum earns a yearly salary of $200,000 with the Las Vegas Aces. She also has an expansive brand portfolio of leading brands like Under Armour, Google Pixel, Skims, Target, Legal Zoom, ZipUSA and Smartwater. Plum earlier had collaboration with Nike but switched to Under Armour last year. Plum is known to have an affinity to Cigars which has led to her owning a signature cigar line with popular cigar brand, Kingmaker Cigars.
Three-times WNBA Champion and three-times Olympic Gold Medallist, Breanna Stewart is considered as one of the most accomplished players in the Women’s NBA.
Having won several team and individual honours, the Power-forward has been associated with several leading brands and has been one of the most marketable athletes in 2024.
Breanna Stewart takes home an yearly salary of $205,000 with the New York Liberty.
Her brand endorsement deals consist of PUMA, BodyArmour, Ally Banks, Mattress Firm, Ticketmaster and Therabody. She has also collaborated with Nike, Clif Bar and Premier Catch in previous years.
Apart from this, Breanna Stewart along with fellow WNBA Player Napheesa Collier has co-founded Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women’s basketball league scheduled to begin in 2025 in Miami, Florida. 30 Women players have joined this league with all players due to receive equity and more than $100,000 each.
Stephen Curry is a four-times NBA Champion, Paris Olympics 2024 gold medallist and a two-times FIBA World Cup winner. The Golden State Warriors point-guard is considered as one of the best shooters in the NBA, special mention for his ability with the three-pointers, he hardly misses from distance.
Apart from team honours, Steph Curry has achieved incredible individual honours which has seen his worth grow not only on court but off the court as well.
Stephen Curry is currently the highest earner in NBA with an yearly salary of $55.7 million. He has also added to his brand portfolio deals with leading brands like Under Armour, Chase, Nissan Motors, Rakuten, Sony, JP Morgan, Brita, Unilever, Vivo, Infiniti and FTX. He had his own signature Under Armour line called Curry brand which creates shoes, apparel and accessories. In addition to this, Curry has been known to invest in several brands to diversify his portfolio and earn from those investments as well.
Paige Bueckers is quite a surprise entry in this illustrious list. She is still playing college basketball and plays for the UConn Huskies currently. Bueckers has performed fairly well at the National level having won a gold medal with USA in youth level Olympics and has also represented USA Women’s team in the 3X3 Basketball.
Even at Collegiate level, her achievements have led Paige Bueckers to be one of the most Marketable Basketball players in the world. She is already earning from brand endorsement deals with Nike, Gatorade, Bose, StockX, Unrivaled, Chegg, Crocs, Cashapp and Nerf in addition to the social media collaborations.
According to Forbes, Bueckers is earning almost $1 million in brand endorsements. This is only the start for the talented player, her stocks will grow further with a WNBA draft pick.
Caitlin Clark is currently the most popular WNBA Player. She played with the Iowa Hawkeyes at college level and is considered as one of the greatest collegiate level players of all time. Caitlin was a first round, first overall draft in the WNBA 2024 Draft. In one season only, she won several honours including Rookie of the Year and the All-WNBA First Team in her debut season. She has only won three U19 FIBA World Cups with the USA U19 Team.
Cailin Clark currently earns a yearly salary of $ $78,066 with the Indiana Fever. However, her earnings from brand endorsement deals clearly surpasses the basic salary she gets. Her brand endorsements include Nike, Wilson, Gatorade, Bose, State Farm, Buick, Hy-Vee, H & R Block, Tops, Shoot-A-Way, Goldman Sachs. She is also in contact with Nike for a new signature shoe line. With her growing popularity and her excellent on-court performances, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Caitlin Clark might earn way more from brand endorsements in the near future.
Popularly known as ‘King James’, Lebron James has been regarded as one of the best players and is often a part of debates for the best ever NBA player being compared to the great Michael Jordan. The records and accolades speak for themselves; for he is a four-times NBA Champion with the Lakers, a multiple time Olympic Gold medallist with Team USA along with several MVP awards.
Lebron James earns a massive yearly salary of $48.7 million with the L.A. Lakers. Lebron’s continued success, popularity and his longevity has led to brands queuing up to collaborate with him. Over the years, his brand endorsement deals have included many global brands. His expansive endorsement portfolio consists of brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, AT&T, State Farm, Walmart, Upper Deck, Taco Bell, Audemars Piguet, Fanatics, GMC, Beats, Crypto.com, Blaze Pizza, Dunkin’, LIFEWTR, Intel, Samsung and Kia. He has also had deals with Coca-Cola, Reebok and Adidas in the past.
According to Forbes, in May 2023, James became the first active NBA player to become a billionaire.
When Fenway Sports Group (FSG) became the sole global marketer of his rights in 2021, as part of the deal, James was granted a minority stake in the English Premier League football club Liverpool which is owned by FSG.
Even in the twilight of his career, King James’s popularity is still off the charts and ends up being the most marketable basketball player of 2024.
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