How much are Africans earning in the NBA ? 🌍🏆

The NBA is back ! 🏀🚀

In case you missed it, Giannis Antetokoumpo (🇬🇷🇳🇬) just agreed to a 3-year, $186 million contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks.

✍🏾 With this new contract, Giannis becomes the highest-earning NBA player of African origin.

🏆 He is followed by 2023 Regular Season MVP, Joel Embiid of Cameroun who currently is under a 4-year extension with Philadelphia 76ers (at approx $210 million).

How are the other African stars of the NBA fairing ? 🔎

🌍 Last season, there were 16 players born in Africa in the league (that number increases if one includes players with at least one parent born in Africa).

📌 Here are some other fan favorites' current contracts (let's bare in mind that these do not include endorsement deals) :

🇺🇸🇳🇬Bam Adebayo : $163 million 5-year contract with the Miami Heat
🇨🇲 Pascal Siakam : $143 million contract with the Toronto Raptors
🇫🇷🇨🇩 Victor Wembanyama : $55 million 4-year (rookie) contract with the SA Spurs
🇺🇸🇳🇬 Gabe Vincent : $33 million 3-year contract with the LA Lakers (#GoLakers)
🇨🇩 Jonathan Kuminga : $24 million 4-year contract with the Golden State Warriors

As we are entering the #AthleteInvestor era, I’m looking forward to the time when some of these high-earning and highly-mediatised individuals launch syndicate funds or other platforms allowing them to do business across Africa.
The salaries of NBA players is already higher than any other major sport league in the US and salaries are only going to increase with time**.

This year, we've had quite a few interesting announcements in the #AthleteInvestor space :
⭐️ Most recently, Andre Iguodala 4-Time NBA Champion announced that he would retire from the NBA to lead a $200m VC fund.
⭐️ In August, London-based, athlete-backed The Players Fund announced that it would launch a €47 million fund backed by athletes.
⭐️ In September, Portugal-based APEX launched a €50 million fund backed by sports celebrities such as Raphaël Varane, Lando Norris