Gsbt

Courtesy of the NBA In 2016, Cleveland Basketball great LeBron James made over $77 million between his pay ($23 million) and endorsements, Forbes reports. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning made $45 million, and LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw made $32 million. There's no question being an elite pro athlete pays very, very well. But consider this: The career span for an athlete is short and the rank-and-file pros don't get paid nearly so much as the top players. In the NFL, the average career length is 3.5 years with the lifetime earning potential of $3,010,000,  according to tech job site Paysa.  In the MLB, the average career length is 5.6 years with the lifetime earning potential of $2,912,000. Things are better in the NBA, where the average career lasts 4.8 years with the lifetime earning potential of $12,027,456. None of that is chicken scratch. But if you factor in the number of people who try to become pro sports players and don't ever get a decent contra