Despite Earning $174,000 Everyday in ’97, Michael Jordan’s Richest NBA Contract Falls Short of Shohei Ohtani’s Mammoth $700 Million Deal After Inflation

It is no secret that NBA legend Michael Jordan is one of the richest former athletes in the world. Notably, he was the first athlete to become a billionaire. Now, the 6x NBA champion’s net worth is estimated to be a whopping $3 billion, which recently entered him into the Forbes 400. Interestingly, Jordan achieved all this even though his NBA salary was much lower than what superstars are receiving in the world of professional sports today. Particularly, compared to baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s recent massive contract.

Following days of speculation, it was recently announced that Ohtani signed a huge 10-year $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After 6 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, the two-way star will now join the Dodgers in a massive move that has been the talk of the town – for more reasons than one.

Michael Jordan’s biggest contract is still lower than Shohei Ohtani’s

Shohei Ohtani‘s new contract is 64% bigger than the previous MLB record, which was a 12-year, $426.5 million deal for superstar Mike Trout in 2019. Furthermore, Ohtani’s $70 million average salary is 62% higher than the previous best of $43.33 million as per CNBC. Also, it is in stark contrast to what 5x MVP Michael Jordan earned from his biggest NBA contract.

Surprisingly, Jordan only earned over $93 million in NBA salary over the course of his entire career. Ohtani is set to earn close to that amount in just his first year with the Dodgers.

It is safe the say that MJ was underpaid during most of his time with the Chicago Bulls. Out of the $91 million he earned with the Bulls, His Airness made over $63 million during his last two seasons. Jordan signed a one-year $30 million deal in 1996 followed by another one-year $33.1 million contract in 1997, which was his biggest.

Shockingly, his previous highest one-year salary was $4 million. However, his $33.1 million contract in 1997 was huge. Notably, it was higher than the payrolls of a lot of NBA teams. Furthermore, it remained the biggest contract in the NBA until 2018.

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After adjusting it for inflation, the $33.1 million from 1997 would now be over $63 million as per the US Inflation Calculator. This means, Jordan earned around $174,000 per day in 1997. However, it is still short of Ohtani’s deal who will earn over $191,000 each day.

Even pro athletes are in disbelief at the mega-deal

Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract became the main topic after the historic announcement.

The humongous contract astonished even some top professional athletes. Notably, New York Knicks star Josh Hart was awestruck and could not believe his eyes after the deal was announced.

Hart took to social media and shared his surprise saying, “Good Lord 10 years $700Ms”. He is just one of many stars who were in disbelief. What are your views on Ohtani’s historic contract?

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