'$581 Million By the End': Bringing Up Kyrie Irving’s Sacrifice, Skip Bayless Lashes Out at LeBron James

Kyrie Irving and LeBron James have gone down different paths since their 2016 title win for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This offseason led to them both being up for new contracts, but while Irving took a team-friendly pay cut, James maximized his earnings, much to the dismay of NBA analyst Skip Bayless.

Throughout his career, LeBron has lived up to the title of ‘King’ James. No other player in NBA history has higher career earnings than the $581 million the 4-time NBA champion has earned in 22 years.

Earlier this year, following a disappointing first-round elimination by the Minnesota Timberwolves, it became apparent the Los Angeles Lakers needed to improve. It would’ve drastically helped Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka if James had taken a pay cut. Instead, he opted into his $52.6 million player option.

Irving could’ve done the same thing with the Dallas Mavericks. The 6-foot-2 guard would’ve been justified considering he is recovering from a torn ACL. He took a different approach by declining his $43 million player option and signing a three-year $119 million extension. This new contract breaks down to $39 million annually, giving the Mavericks more wiggle room for the future.

The Mavericks immediately experienced the benefit of this new deal as it allowed them to sign D’Angelo Russell to a two-year $13 million deal to fill in as the starting point guard until Irving ultimately returns to action.

Citing Irving’s sacrifice, Bayless went on a temperamental rant directed at James in the past. It was, notably, only an addition to his previous sermons.

“By the end of next season, LeBron will have made an NBA all-time record $581 million,” Bayless said on The Skip Bayless Show. 

Bayless doesn’t necessarily have a problem with James capitalizing on his financial opportunities, but being a cause of the problem his teams face contractually with their roster.

“He has always complained about how he just doesn’t have enough help,” Bayless proclaimed. It isn’t easy to flesh out a roster when one player takes up 34.03% of the team’s total cap space.

Bayless, however, doesn’t squarely put the blame on LeBron. According to him, James’ agent Rich Paul and business associate Maverick Carter should share the burden of shame as well.

“Rich Paul can make the world believe anything. Nobody is better at media and fan manipulation than Rich and Maverick Carter, and of course, LeBron James,” Bayless said.

Bayless believes LeBron deserves more scrutiny for his lack of willingness to sacrifice. On the other hand, he believes, “Kyrie Irving got little to no credit for the sacrifice he just made for the Dallas Mavericks.”

Comparing the pair might not serve any objective purpose at this point, but it does highlight the intentions and ambitions they have from their respective careers.

Regardless, their decisions could serve as pivotal reasons for the level of success their teams experience this upcoming season.