HoopsHype’s Real Value Metric Has LeBron James As Most Underpaid Player In NBA History

HoopsHype’s real value metric has LeBron James as the most underpaid player in NBA history. 

“Potential GOAT (we already have him rated as such) LeBron James checks in once again as the most underpaid player in NBA history, per our numbers, which is nuts considering he’s also the highest-earning player in league history,” Frank Urbina of HoopsHype wrote. “James has just been that above-and-beyond throughout his career that even earning a max salary in every season after his rookie-scale deal (so for like 17 years), he’s still been underpaid by $220.7 million, according to our Real Value metric.”

LeBron has career averages of 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He’s a four-time MVP, a four-time champion and a four-time Finals MVP.

LeBron, who grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, is first in NBA history in points, fourth in assists, eighth in steals, second in field goals, eighth in 3-point field goals, fifth in triple-doubles, seventh in points per game and third in player efficiency rating.

“On the other hand, 2023-24 was just the fifth season in which James has been overpaid, per our metric, as the four-time league MVP made $47.6 million but had a Real Value of $39.7 million, meaning the Lakers overpaid him by roughly $8 million,” Urbina wrote. “Considering James still had a Real Value of nearly $40 million, however, that’s still elite production by the 21-year veteran. According to our metric, James’ most underpaid season was in 2008-09, when he was paid $14.4 million by the Cleveland Cavaliers but had a Real Value of $44.4 million, a monstrous disparity of $30.0 million. James won league MVP that season after averaging 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks and leading Cleveland to a 66-16 regular season, though the team did disappointingly fall in the Eastern Conference Finals.”

LeBron is the only player in NBA history to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams, the only player with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists and the only player to score 40,000 points.