A world record bid for Kylian Mbappé has been submitted by Saudi Arabian soccer club Al Hilal. LeBron James and other NBA stars are loving it.
The NBA is no stranger to supermax contracts. Not too long ago, in 2011, the NBA dealt with a whole lockout because of them (Thanks KG). In fact, Jaylen Brown recently signed the richest contract in NBA history. What's bananas is that a five-year, $304 million supermax contract extension still pales in comparison to what Saudi Arabian club, Al Hilal, offered Kylian Mbappé.
According to the contract, Mbappé would receive $776 million over a year. This potential deal would be the most expensive in sports history since the transfer fee to PSG would be $332 million. The current world record fee is $262 million (€222 million) which happened when Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG in 2017.
ESPN reports that PSG has confirmed the offer and given Al Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappé. However, sources reveal Mbappé is not interested. It's expected that the 2018 World Cup winner will sign with Real Madrid after the upcoming season.
LeBron James, Lillard, and Giannis react
Once the outrageous terms and conditions of this deal were made public, NBA stars quickly took to Twitter to react. Never thought I'd write this, but sorry Lakers fans. Pretty soon, LeBron James might end up taking his talents to Saudi Arabia.
$776 million for one season? To put this deal in perspective, Damian Lillard will earn a little over $45 million next season. This is around 15 times less than what Mbappé would make on this potential deal. So, his reaction is spot on.
Like James and Lillard, Giannis is also among the top 10 earners in the league. Upon hearing the news, he had more than something to say. For $776 million, Giannis was ready for a career change.
This individual contract is worth more than many NBA teams' total salary. Although NBA superstars like LeBron James aren't exactly being skimped when it comes payday. It's almost unbelievable to see this type of money being thrown around, especially on a one-year deal.
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