New Houston Rockets’ guard Fred VanVleet needed little time to surpass the career earnings of golf icon Tiger Woods.
The 29-year-old VanVleet opted out of his contract with the Toronto Raptors and hit the free agent market. He subsequently signed a three-year deal with the Houston Rockets worth a whopping $130 million.
As noted by Kyle Porter of CBS, VanVleet’s $130 million deal surpasses the total that Woods made in career earnings on the PGA Tour. That’s especially impressive and somewhat difficult to believe when you consider that Woods was the undisputed top golfer in the world from 1997 to 2008.
But like every other major professional sports league, the NBA has seen a massive growth in global following and revenue. That means an increased salary cap and more money for the players, which helped VanVleet land a three-year deal that many other star athletes could only dream of.
According to Forbes, Woods made $121 million in prize money on the PGA Tour. But a plethora of endorsements and other sources of income helped Woods earn over $1 billion in career earnings as a golfer.
A year after helping the Raptors to an NBA Championship in 2019, VanVleet signed a four-year extension with the club worth $85 million. The fourth year of the deal carried a $22.8 million player option, which he opted out of in order to secure a more lucrative deal.
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That is, a lucrative deal that is worth more than what Woods made in winnings on the PGA tour.
