Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Kevin Durant finally defeats LeBron James in a career milestone

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 9:01 AM ET

Kevin Durant, 37, will likely never surpass LeBron James in MVP Awards (one to four), titles (two to four), All-NBA honors (11 to 21), career points (30,571 to 42,184) or countless other NBA accolades.

However, the Houston Rockets star has finally edged out his longtime rival and contemporary in a notable milestone — career earnings. By inking a two-year, $90M extension on Sunday, Durant saw his career earnings increase to $591,135,653 over 21 NBA seasons, making him the highest-paid player in league history, per Spotrac.

With James, 40, unlikely to land another massive payday, it's a safe bet that Durant will finish his career with more on-court earnings. James, who exercised his $52.6M player option for the 2025-26 season, was reportedly not offered a contract extension by the Lakers this offseason, as the franchise prepares to move into the Luka Doncic era.

BREAKING: KD has agreed to a two-year, $90 million extension with a player option for 2027–28.

With the deal, he becomes the highest-earning player in NBA history, surpassing LeBron James.

Easy. Money.

(via @ShamsCharania, @spotrac) pic.twitter.com/a7bs2zaThV
— Boardroom (@boardroom) October 19, 2025

Kevin Durant took a pay cut

Durant could have crossed the $600M threshold if he didn't take a pay cut with the Rockets. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the sharpshooting forward was eligible for a $120M extension, but took $30M less to give the Rockets "team-building flexibility" for the long haul, signaling his intention to finish his career in Houston.

It's worth noting that James' off-court earnings are still significantly higher than Durant's. According to Sportico, James earned an estimated $133.2M in 2024, $85M of which came in endorsement deals. Durant's overall earnings in 2024 were $93.1M. The same trend has persisted for years, even when Durant's on-court earnings were higher.

Stephen Curry primed to take over

Stephen Curry is primed to surpass both Durant and James in career earnings imminently. The Golden State Warriors star will earn $62.5M in the 2026-27 season, but is expected to sign a contract extension, possibly his last, before his career winds down. Curry, with $532.7M in career earnings, will need to add only $70M more to his career earnings to officially emerge as the highest-paid player in NBA history.

Unlike Durant, Curry has also edged out James in off-the-court earnings in recent years. In 2024, he earned a whopping $100M from endorsement deals, per Sportico, along with his $53.8M NBA salary.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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