Kobe Bryant Will Retire With Record $680 Million In Career Earnings

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Bryant’s $680 million in total earnings is the most ever by a team athlete during their playing career. The only athletes to earn more are in individual sports and include Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher and Floyd Mayweather.

Bryant never reached the mass appeal or marketing reach of Jordan, but he did endorse a range of top brands like Mercedes-Benz , McDonald’s, Sprite , Nintendo , Sony , Hublot and more that helped him earn more than $350 million off the court during his career.
China was a particularly important market for Bryant and Nike. Bryant put in the work by making annual pilgrimages to China before it was fashionable for NBA players to make the trek. He gained credibility with the 300 million basketball-playing Chinese thanks in part to his embrace of Chinese culture. Bryant is far more popular in China than in the U.S. His jersey was the NBA’s best-seller in China for most of the past decade. He was treated as the biggest star of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

During his career, Bryant’s popularity in China helped him land China-specific deals for Mercedes-Benz’ Smart Car, Alibaba and Sina.com. Alibaba announced plans in August to create a series of Bryant-branded products and distribute them through the company’s retail platforms, which are accessed by over 350 million active buyers.

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