Bradley Beal One of Highest-Paid Athletes in American Sports
PHOENIX -- It feels like every year, salary numbers of our favorite athletes continue to skyrocket to astronomical proportions.
While not every athlete is hitting Patrick Mahomes or Shohei Ohtani numbers in their bank account, the median income is still quite staggering.
According to data from Statista, NBA players in the 2022-23 season brought home an average of $10.8 million.
In an attempt to win their first NBA title, the Phoenix Suns currently have four players over that mark, though the leader in the clubhouse is also one of the highest-earning individuals across the four major American sports.
In Bleacher Report's culmination of the highest annual average salaries, Beal lands at No. 8 on the list.
"For the first 11 years of his career, Bradley Beal played a leading role for the Washington Wizards. This offseason, though, a blockbuster trade shipped the veteran guard to the Phoenix Suns. And his contract is a notable part of that," wrote David Kenyon.
"Beal is currently in the second season of a five-year, $251 million extension he signed in July 2022. Between his recent injury woes and Washington's overall struggles lately, the franchise basically shed his contract to the Suns while embracing a difficult rebuild.
"Phoenix, on the other hand, paired Beal with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in hopes of chasing an NBA title."
Beal's annual average of $50.1 million was only outdone by:
- Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts ($51 million)
- Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ($52 million)
- Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert ($52.5 million)
- Philadelphia 76ers C Joel Embiid ($53.3 million)
- Golden State Warriors PG Steph Curry ($53.8 million)
- Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow ($55 million)
- Denver Nuggets C Nikola Jokic ($55.2 million)
The Suns certainly hope to get their money's worth from Beal's contract, though early injury woes have plagued him to start the 2023-24 campaign.
Phoenix - for a second time this season - officially announced they were making Beal unavailable for at least two weeks to allow him to properly heal from an ankle sprain (the first was due to lower back problems).
He will be re-evaluated in January.
Kevin Durant actually has the highest cap hit on Phoenix this season with $47.6 million, just edging out Beal's $46.7 million.
Booker is third behind Beal/Durant at $36 million and Jusuf Nurkic is the only other player north of the eight-figure mark at $16.8 million.
