库里签了当时NBA史上最大的合同：五年2.01亿美元。勒布朗立刻为他鸣不平：干嘛工资要上限呢？斯蒂芬应该拿五年四亿美元！说是英雄惜英雄，其实勒布朗也在为自己那个群体——巨星群体，说话。

So tell me again why there's a cap on how much a player should get?? Don't answer that. Steph should be getting 400M this summer 5yrs.

谁来告诉我：为什么规定一个球员最多能领多少薪水？这个夏天，斯蒂芬本应得5年4亿的合同！

It reopened an old topic: Just how much would James be worth in an open market in which there was no NBA salary cap or maximum salary rule?

这件事开启一个老话题：在一个没有NBA工资帽或最高工资限制的自由市场中，詹姆斯的身价到底应该值多少？

Over the years, as James has occasionally referenced being underpaid -- "At the end of the day, I don't think my value on the floor can really be compensated¹ for because of the [rules]," he said in 2013 -- there have been varying attempts by economists² and journalists to try to quantify his true worth.

这些年来，就像詹姆斯偶尔提及薪水过低的事：“一天下来，我认为我在场上的价值由于这些‘限制规则’没有获得足够的补偿。”他说在2013年，有一些经济学家和记者做了不同的尝试，试图衡量他的真实价值。

Well, there may finally be a comparable athlete who sets James' true market value.

我们最终找到了一位可以和詹姆斯真实市场价值相媲美的运动员。

European soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to a new contract with Juventus. Not including the transfer fee to Ronaldo's former team, Real Madrid, that will exceed $100 million, Ronaldo will get a four-year contract worth about $258 million, or an average salary of $64.5 million per season.

欧洲足球巨星克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多和尤文图斯达成了一份新合同。不包括C罗的前东家皇家马德里1亿美元的转会费，C罗将得到一份四年2.58亿美元的合同，或者说平均一个赛季6450万美元。

Give or take a few million a year, that massive annual figure could indeed be what James might fetch in an uncapped NBA market.

一年多几百万左右，那个巨大的年度数字确实是詹姆斯在一个没有工资帽限制的市场上可以得到的。

James and Ronaldo are quite similar. Both are icons³ of their sport and worldwide marketing⁴ superstars with tens of millions of followers⁵ on social media. Both are 33 years old.

詹姆斯和罗纳尔多非常相似。他们都是各自体育界的偶像人物，在世界范围内都拥有巨大市场的超级明星，在社交媒体上拥有数千万的粉丝。他们都是33岁。

詹皇

James turned pro⁶ at age 18, Ronaldo at age 17. Both have won a slate⁷ of player of the year trophies⁸, hold numerous scoring records and have claimed conference and league championships.

詹姆斯18岁成为职业运动员，罗纳尔多17岁。二人都多次赢得年度最佳球员奖，保持着许多得分记录并且都获得过联盟总冠军。

And both just signed four-year contracts. Ronaldo landed with the Italian soccer powerhouse that is one of the richest and most storied sports franchises¹⁰ in the world, valued at $1.47 billion by Forbes.

而且他们都刚刚签了四年的合同。罗纳尔多与意大利足球豪门达成合约，后者为世界上最富有、最具有传奇色彩的球队之一，被福布斯估值为14.7亿美元。

James joined the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA's richest and most high-profile franchise⁹, valued at more than $3 billion by Forbes.

詹姆斯加入洛杉矶湖人队，NBA最富有、最引人注目的球队，福布斯估价市值超过30亿美元。

But James will be getting about 40 percent less per year than Ronaldo, earning $153 million for an average salary of $38.3 million.

但是詹姆斯的年薪要比罗纳尔多少40%，四年1.53亿，平均每年3830万美元。

The key difference

最重要的区别

The Lakers have to share in what can be described as a socialistic system aimed to achieve better parity¹¹ between the haves and have-nots in the NBA. Juventus doesn't have to share as much.

湖人处在一个旨在实现NBA中富人和穷人之间更好的平等关系的社会系统中。尤文图斯就不需要分担那么多。

James once joked that he'd be willing to play in Europe if he could get paid $50 million per season. If he ever wants to get to that number, he may want to take up soccer.

詹姆斯曾开玩笑说，如果他一个赛季可以得到5000万美元，他愿意去欧洲踢球。如果他真的想得到这些钱，他可能愿意去踢足球吧。