Kevin Durant Believes He’s Underpaid Along With Other NBA Superstars
Kevin Durant is set to earn nearly US $19 million for the upcoming 2014-2015 NBA season and yet the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise player is not satisfied with his salary despite the fact that he’s one of the highest paid players in the entire league.
Durant sounded off to newsok.com, a news website based in Oklahoma City, saying that the new NBA TV deal should affect positively the new contracts players will sign moving forward .
“Look at it like this,” Durant said in the article. “Kobe Bryant brings in a lot of money to Los Angeles, that downtown area. People go to watch the Lakers. Clippers are getting up there, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and those guys are bringing in a lot of money as well. Look at Cleveland, look at Miami when LeBron was there. These guys are worth more than what they are making because of the amount of money they bring to that area. That’s a conversation you can always have, but until it’s changed you never know what will happen to it.”
The 26-year-old Durant, who won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, did not state it bluntly but it is clear that he’s referring to himself too being one of the top superstars in the NBA.
The NBA has recently agreed to a massive $24 billion deal with ESPN and TNT for media and coverage rights of the league and the fresh contract is expected to spike the salary cap in the coming years. The current team limit is at $63M for 2014-2015 but it could rise to as high as $90M when the new TV deal is recomputed and incorporated to new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules.
Durant, who has NBA career averages of 27.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists, will be paid another $20,158,622 in the 2015-2016 season and will hit free agency in what is anticipated to be the richest summer in league history. The figure is the final year of a five-season contract he signed in 2011 worth $89.16M.
The 2016 free agent class includes stars like Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, Kevin Love, Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge , Charlotte Hornets’ Al Jefferson, New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, Phoenix Suns’ Goran Dragic and Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol among many other players who may command a big contract at that time.
Durant also signed a 10-year $300M extension in his endorsement of sports brand Nike plus previous and current endorsement deals with companies lie BBVA, 2K Sports, Skullcandy, Kind snacks and Sprint.
Durant is already one of the richest athletes in the world of sports but apparently being paid multi-million is not enough for the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar.
