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Professional Athletes Set To Earn Big Money in 2021

A country music hit song from the 1970s gave this line of sage advice: “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”
In 2021, the updated version should say “Mamas, make sure your babies grow up to be point guards,” because they could end up as one of the top five players on the list of highest-paid pro athletes in 2021.
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GOBankingRates looked at the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the four major U.S. sports and compiled the top 20 salaries across sports.
Basketball players dominate the list, with the top five salaries and eight of the first 11. And although football is the most popular U.S. sport, only four NFL players are in the top 20. Read on to see the entire list of athletes who will earn big money this year.
18. (tie) Stephen Strasburg
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: Washington Nationals
- Position: Starting pitcher
- 2021 Salary: $35,000,000
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18. (tie) Nolan Arenado
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: Colorado Rockies
- Position: Third base
- 2021 Salary: $35,000,000
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18. (tie) Zack Greinke
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: Houston Astros
- Position: Starting pitcher
- 2021 Salary: $35,000,000
17. Klay Thompson
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Golden State Warriors
- Position: Shooting guard
- 2021 Salary: $35,361,360
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16. Paul George
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Los Angeles Clippers
- Position: Shooting guard
- 2021 Salary: $35,450,412
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14. (tie) Gerrit Cole
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: New York Yankees
- Position: Starting pitcher
- 2021 Salary: $36,000,000
14. (tie) Jacob deGrom
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: New York Mets
- Position: Starting pitcher
- 2021 Salary: $36,000,000
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13. Drew Brees
- Sport: Football
- Team: New Orleans Saints
- Position: Quarterback
- 2021 Salary: $36,150,000
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12. Aaron Rodgers
- Sport: Football
- Team: Green Bay Packers
- Position: Quarterback
- 2021 Salary: $36,352,000
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11. Blake Griffin
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Detroit Pistons
- Position: Power forward
- 2021 Salary: $36,810,996
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10. Mike Trout
- Sport: Baseball
- Team: Los Angeles Angels
- Position: Center field
- 2021 Salary: $37,116,666
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9. LeBron James
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Los Angeles Lakers
- Position: Small forward
- 2021 Salary: $39,219,565
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8. Kevin Durant
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Brooklyn Nets
- Position: Small forward
- 2021 Salary: $40,108,950
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7. Matt Ryan
- Sport: Football
- Team: Atlanta Falcons
- Position: Quarterback
- 2021 Salary: $40,912,500
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6. Ben Roethlisberger
- Sport: Football
- Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
- Position: Quarterback
- 2021 Salary: $41,250,000
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4. (tie) John Wall
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Houston Rockets
- Position: Point guard
- 2021 Salary: $41,254,920
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4. (tie) James Harden
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Houston Rockets
- Position: Shooting guard
- 2021 Salary: $41,254,920
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2. (tie) Chris Paul
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Phoenix Suns
- Position: Point guard
- 2021 Salary: $41,358,814
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2. (tie) Russell Westbrook
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Washington Wizards
- Position: Point guard
- 2021 Salary: $41,358,814
1. Stephen Curry
- Sport: Basketball
- Team: Golden State Warriors
- Position: Point guard
- 2021 Salary: $43,006,362
More From GOBankingRates
In order to discover which professional athletes are set to earn big money in 2021, GOBankingRates looked at the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2020/21 NBA season, top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 NFL season, the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 MLB season and the top 25 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 NHL season. Once these were isolated GOBankingRates found the following factors for each of the 175 athletes: (1) name of athlete; (2) sport played by athlete; (3) team played for; (4) position; and (5) salary in or 2021 in terms of cap hit. Only factor (5) was used to determine final rankings. All data was collected on and up to date as of Dec. 17, 2020.
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