According to Stephen A. Smith, LeBron James is grossly underpaid

LeBron James just signed a two-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. The four-time MVP will receive a total of $97 million over the next two seasons, which will make him the highest-earning player in NBA history. This could affect the Lakers' cap space for the next seasons. However, according to NBA analyst Stephen A Smith, LeBron James is 'grossly' underpaid' for a player that is in the top 3 in the history of the sport.

After this new deal, LeBron James will be receiving a total of$44.5 million this upcoming season. This is the third highest salary in the whole league, just behind his teammate Russell Westbrook ($47 million) and Finals MVP Stephen Curry ($48 million). Still, for the host of First Take, that's not enough as LeBron James is box office. According to the analyst, LeBron brings the same amount of money, or more, than what he cost.

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“He’s grossly underpaid… LeBron James in Los Angeles, $97 million over the next two years is a bargain. He is box office. He just finished averaging 30 a game. He is still a sensational basketball player… The reality is this, when you look to what he brings to the table, the fact that he is box office… He is underpaid… there's no question he deserves this money and he deserves more" concluded the analyst.

Right now, the Lakers might be in a big dilemma as they had both LeBron's salary and Westbrook's salary taking space on the salary cap. This might be one of the reasons why the front office isn't making that many moves during the offseason. But after the new extension, LeBron went from earning the top of the 11th salary per year to the third. James is being paid mostly for what he has been in the past 19 years and not for what he can do in the next two.

Is LeBron James underpaid?

The truth is that when you see LeBron James' new deal, you might think the Lakers gave in too much, especially because of their salary cap. If you see LeBron's average salary per year, you might not think he is underpaid as he will be in the top three in the next two years. But his total contract value is 48th in the whole league, which is surprisingly low for a player of his caliber.