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Episode 427: LeBron James Is Still Underpaid

FREDERIC J. BROWN
/
AFP/Getty Images

The best player in basketball is getting a raise. LeBron James just signed a contract to switch teams to the Los Angeles Lakers with a four-year, $154 million contract. But he may still be the most underpaid sports star in the world.

Back in 2013, when LeBron was making a paltry $17.5 million per year, economists told us he was very underpaid. And we found out why the NBA team owners, the players, the fans and even LeBron James himself want to keep it that way. Today on the show, we call some of them back to see if LeBron is still getting hosed.

The original episode ran in 2013.

Music: "Red Arrow" and "Delicate Stuff."

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Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Alex Blumberg is a contributing editor for NPR's Planet Money. He is also a producer for the public radio program This American Life, and an adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University. He has done radio documentaries on the U.S. Navy, people who do impersonations of their mothers and teenage Steve Forbes supporters. He won first place at the 2002 Third Coast International Audio Festival for his story "Yes, There is a Baby." His story on clinical medical ethicists won the 1999 Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI) award for best radio documentary.
Taylor Tepper
Kenny Malone
Kenny Malone is a correspondent for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News.