Kobe Bryant spent his career running after the feats of his idol Michael Jordan. And it seems he got lucky at that.

Kobe has already passed Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list last December, placing him next only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

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Earnings wise, Bryant earned more than Jordan. At Jordan's retirement, the NBA legend earned a whopping $465 million, thanks to his hefty paycheck and even heftier endorsement deals. Bryant, meanwhile, earned a total of $680 million by the end of the season.

Bryant still earns more than JM when their earnings are adjusted for inflation: Bryant's $762 million edges more than MJ's $720 million in 2015 dollars. 

And compared to other athletes in his playing career, Bryant is the highest-earning. Only Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher and Floyd Mayweather out-earned him.

Bryant started out with $3.5 million for his first Lakers' contract which covered for three years. His earnings eventually ballooned to $320 million for the next 17 seasons, placing him as NBA's highest-paid player the past six seasons. He holds the record together with Jordan as the only NBA player to get $30 million in a given year.  

Earlier in his career, Bryant was one of only five players who voted against the 1999 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which put a ceiling to a player's salary. He voted "no" even if he only had seven starts back then. But he must have surmised that he could bank on this decision in the future, and bank he did!

Compared to Michael Jordan who became a marketing behemoth, Bryant's name never became a mass appeal although he got several endorsement with some of the world's top brands, including Mercedes-Benz , McDonald's and Sprite, bringing him another $350 million throughout his career. In 2003, Nike paid him $10 million a year to be its endorser, where he appealed greatly in Asia, especially in China, where he made annual visits.

In fact, Bryant is more popular in China than in the U.S. and his jersey was the NBA's best-seller in China, Forbes reports.

TagsKobe Bryant earnings, Top-Earning NBA Players