World's 5 highest-paid athletes of 2017 - Where are Messi and Ronaldo?
Athletes earn millions and millions of dollars these days as they entertain the masses with their unbelievable skills in the various fields that they excel. In cricket there is Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and the likes, in Basketball there is Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and the list goes on, in Football there is Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others, while in Tennis there is Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray etc etc.
All of these superstars earn in millions, however, it is the best or the most popular ones in each sport that earns more than the rest.
Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is the only cricketer on the list ranked 89th, with an annual earning of $22 million.
And here we take a look at the 5 highest paid athletes in the world according to Forbes’ annual list.
#5 Kevin Durant – $60.6 million
The Golden State Warriors superstar has featured in the top 5 highest-paid athletes in the world for the second straight year. After helping the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Conference Finals in 2016, Durant moved to the Oracle Arena outfit on a two-year $54.3 million contract.
The 28-year-old combined with the three other All-Stars of the Warriors, namely – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson – to usher the ‘Fantastic Four’ era. Currently, the Warriors are competing in the NBA Finals against LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers and hold a 3-0 advantage in the 7-game series.
However, Durant beat his All-Stars teammates to the top 5 having earned $60.6 million in the last 12 months, whereas Curry is the only other out of the ‘Fantastic Four’ to make it into the top 10 with earnings of $47.3 million.