Wade, Bosh & Johnson Make Forbes Highest Paid Athletes List
CBS Miami: As the Wu-Tang Clan so eloquently put it: "cash rules everything around me; cream – dollar, dollar bill y'all".
Forbes Magazine recently released its World's Highest-Paid Athlete list for 2016 – ranking the top 100 athletes by their total earnings. The athletes' net worth sum was based on reported contract earnings or winnings and their total amount of endorsement monies.
Miami was well-represented on the list as the Heat's Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson were among the big-money ballers.
Wade was the highest listed Miami-based athlete, placing 33rd on the list – tied with Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw – totaling $32 million. The 34-year-old Wade accumulated his 2016 total by raking in $20 million – on a one-year deal – from the Heat and scoring another $12 million in endorsement money.
Shooting balls made of ice with George Gervin has it perks.
Wade actually dropped from his position on last year's Forbes list – 31st – but was still the sixth-highest ranked NBA player on the list.
LeBron James took his talents and his money to Cleveland, where he stores his $77.2 million dollars made in 2016. James is the highest professional basketball player on the list and No. 3 overall behind international soccer superstars Cristiano Ronaldo (No. 1, $88 million) and Lionel Messi (No. 2, $81.4 million).
The top 10 also included tennis champions Roger Federer (No. 4, $67.8 million) and Novak Djokovic (No. 6, $55.8 million); golfers Phil Mickelson (No. 8, $52.9 million) and Jordan Spieth (No. 9, $52.8 million); NBAers Kevin Durant (No. 5, $56.2 million) and the newly-retired Kobe Bryant (No. 10, $50 million).
Carolina Panthers quarterback, 2016 NFL MVP and "Dab King" Cam Newton was the highest rated professional football player – coming in at No. 7 with a total of $53.1 million in 2016.
Heat forward Chris Bosh was No. 55 on the list with $25.2 million earned in 2016. Despite missing time the past two seasons due to issues with blood clots, the 11-time all-star is entering the third year of a $118 million deal and is due almost another $75 million.
Joe Johnson, who joined the Heat in February, came in at No. 77 on 2016 list. His $22.9 million earned was actually a significant dip from the cash he pulled in 2015, when he was ranked No. 49.
Former Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon put himself on the list for the first time when he cashed in on a humungous deal ($85 million over five years with $52.5 guaranteed) from the New York Giants – putting him at No. 39.
Other Notables
Tennis icon Serena Williams was one of only two women on the list. The fashionista and tennis champion totaled $28.9 million, ranking her 40th.
The other very rich lady was fellow tennis player Maria Sharapova, who came in at No. 88 with $21.9 million. Sharapova was recently handed a two-year ban from the WTA for failed drug test, which will likely send her winnings and endorsement amounts plummeting.
Floyd "Money" Mayweather ranked No. 16 on the list with $44 million earned. Mayweather's newest rival and possible next opponent, MMA's Connor McGregor, ranked No. 85 with his $22 million earned.
The biggest disparity between earnings came from Tiger Woods. The once-maligned golfer only totaled $274,000 in winnings but received $45 million dollars in endorsements to land him at No. 12 on the list.
See Forbes' full 2016 list of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes
