On October 19, Beijing time, the well-known American media HoopsHype evaluated the relationship between the actual value of NBA players and their salaries, and in their opinion, although James is the highest-paid player ever, he should actually get a salary far more than that. James is also the youngest paid player in history.

According to the American media assessment, the actual value generated by James in the first 21 seasons was $703,305,189, or about $700 million, but his total career salary was $482,593,428, or about $480 million. In other words, the difference between the two is about $220 million, and James should have taken $220 million more if he had taken the money in real terms.

The American media believes that in the 21 seasons that James has played, only 5 seasons have been paid more than the actual value, and as many as 16 seasons have been paid less than the actual value.

In the 2008-09 season, for example, James averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, leading the Cavaliers to the playoffs with a 66-16 record and finally reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. James was named MVP that season and was named to the All-Star and All-Star First Team.

That year, James' actual value assessment was $44.4 million, and his salary was $14.4 million, a difference of $30 million. From this perspective, even though James is the highest-paid player in history, he is still one of the best value for money.

In this ranking of less money, Jokic and Doncic are second and third, respectively. The American media assessed that Jokic's actual value so far in his career was nearly 350 million, and his career salary was nearly 200 million, 150 million less, and his salary for 9 seasons was lower than his actual value. The American media assessed that Doncic's actual value so far in his career was nearly 260 million, his career salary was 110 million, and he also took about 150 million less, and his salary for 6 seasons was lower than his actual value.

In 4th-10th place are Antetokounmpo, Tatum, Alexander, Wade, Harden, Bush and Haliburton.