Drinks are on the Black Mamba tonight!
NBA star Kobe Bryant will receive $24 million today as an advance on this season's salary.
While most players get paid biweekly, the injured Los Angeles Lakers guard negotiated his contract
to get 80 percent of his $30.5 million salary in one lump sum payment.
But Bryant won't take home the whole $24 million - a lot of it will go to Uncle Sam.
ESPN reported Bryant could have to pay as much as 55 percent of his salary in taxes, leaving him with $11 million.
A tax expert told ESPN Bryant is subject to the top federal tax rate of 39.6 percent, which would mean $9.6 million would be withheld.
As a California resident, he'll have to pay an extra 13.3 percent, or $3.2 million, in state taxes.
Bryant hasn’t played in the first two games of the Lakers’ season as he recovers from an Achilles’ tendon tear.
The star was injured in an April 12 win over Golden State and underwent surgery less than 12 hours later. Doctors said he could be out of action for up to nine months.
Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Lakers are hurting without Bryant, now 1-1 on the season after a big opening-night win over the Clippers.
Given his skill, the Lakers are likely to re-sign their star player when his expensive contract expires on June 30.
The Los Angeles Times reported the club could go as high as $32.7 million.
Right now though, Kobe is the highest-paid player in the NBA.
And his $24.3 million one-day windfall is more than any other player in the league will make all year, including Dirk Nowitzki ($22.7 million), Amar'e Stoudemire ($21.67 million) and Joe Johnson ($21.5 million).
Seattle Pi reported Bryant has made $275 million in salary over his career.
Although Michael Jordan still holds the record for the largest single-season salary, earning $33.1 million for the 1997-98 season.
No comments:
Post a Comment