(Football news) The words Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are firmly associated with decades of dominance in world football, a bucket load of goals and many Ballon d’Or awards. With the number of records each of these footballers have broken, their achievements both individually and collectively with the team, it’s no wonder that both of them have also been the highest paid athletes in their respective sports for a very long time.

With both these iconic legends moving away from their clubs this summer, as Cristiano Ronaldo rejoined Manchester United and Lionel Messi shocked the sporting world by moving to Paris Saint-Germain from his boyhood club Barcelona, their new deals have also changed the dynamics of who is paid more. According to a report by Forbes, Ronaldo is now the highest paid footballer in the world, earning $125 million before taxes in the 2021/2022 season. Ofcourse, being the world’s most popular athlete with a combined number of followers amounting to nearly half a billion across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter helps, with commercial deals with Nike, Herbalife, Clear and the CR7 brand amounting to nearly $50 million of his revenue.

Only three other active athletes, namely Roger Federer ($90 million), LeBron James ($65 million) and Tiger Woods ($60 million) earn more than the Portuguese superstar commercially. However, Cristiano’s longtime rival Lionel Messi earns about $110 million, nearly $15 million less than the current Manchester United player. This is because Messi’s endorsements with Adidas, Pepsi, watchmaker Jacobs & Co. and Budweiser earn him $35 million, significantly lower than Ronaldo. Paris Saint-Germain currently employs three of the top five earners in world football with Neymar in the third position with an estimated value of $95 million and Kylian Mbappe in the fourth position with $43 million.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the top 10 highest paid footballers will earn an estimated $585 million before tax, about $15 million more than last year with salaries and bonuses amounting to nearly $415 million of the total. These figures are despite the report by Europe’s governing body UEFA, which claimed top flight clubs endured an $8.5 million pandemic related revenue loss.

Also read: Manchester United crash out of the Carabao Cup while Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham progress to Round 4
 

(Basketball news) As the new NBA season draws closer and the majority of the free agents found respective homes, the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets emerged as the strongest teams without a shadow of a doubt. Even though last year's NBA champions Milwaukee Bucks and finalist Phoenix Suns remain relatively unchanged from last season, both teams don’t possess the historical talent that the Lakers and Nets have.

The Lakers last season got eliminated in the 1st round of the playoff series by the Phoenix Suns but this season Rob Pelinka (General Manager) made sure that the same thing isn't repeated. At the end of last season, Lakers managed to pull off a blockbuster trade where they managed to get 9 times NBA all star and 2016-17 MVP Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards. With Lebron James and Anthony Davis already in the team, adding Westbrook makes them the team to beat in the Western Conference. With the Lakers adding former NBA all stars Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo in free agency their roster looks more dangerous than before.

The Brooklyn Nets last season pulled off the trade of the decade by getting James Harden from Houston Rockets, adding to a roster which already contained Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Last season, according to all experts, the Nets should have the NBA Championship but were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference final, although injuries hampered the squad which eventually led to their downfall last season. This season Steve Nash (Coach of Nets) will be hoping that his stars remain fit as they have already added former all stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Milsap to an already staked roster.

With both teams' ambition of winning a NBA championship last year not being fulfilled, the teams will be even more hungry to reach the NBA final this season. The Los Angeles Lakers have got back the championship core which won the NBA 2 years ago but the key advantage that the Lakers have over the Nets is the championship experience they have in their roster. On the other hand, the Nets have arguably the best trio in American sports history as on any given day James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Iriving can beat any team just based on their talent. As the fans eagerly wait for the start of the new season the NBA finals looks destined to be between these two teams unless and until injuries hamper them both. This is a site that not only the basketball fans want to watch but the sports fans in general will also tune in.

Also read: Virtual development program launched by NBA Academy for top female prospects from outside the US

The Los Angeles Roster:

Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Marc Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Rajon Rondo,Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, DeAndre Jordan, Russell Westbrook, Kent Bazemore, Anthony Davis, Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker.

The Brooklyn Nets Roster:

Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Patty Mills, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Nic Claxton , Bruce Brown, Cam Thomas, James Johnson, DeAndre Bembry, Jevon Carter, Day’Ron Sharpe.

NBA Champions L.A Lakers are going through a rough patch. The absence of LeBron James and Anthony Davis have resulted in four consecutive losses despite a spirited comeback attempt in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the most part, the game was evenly fought with the return of Marc Gosol who was playmaking from the center while the efforts of Dennis Schröder, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope resulted in a total of 64 points. The ejection of Dwight Howard in the first quarter after bumping into Montrezl Harrell levelled the playing field for the two sides. The Lakers have a lot of positives to take despite the result, having been as much as 18 points down, they reduced the deficit to just three with less than a minute on the clock. Danny Green laid the final blow to his former team with 28 points in just 14 attempts and played an instrumental role in giving Philadelphia 76ers an 18 point lead. The Lakers currently have a 1.5 game lead over the Denver Nuggets and will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, 8 am IST with the hope of getting back to winning ways without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The New Orleans Pelicans ended a seven game losing streak against the L.A Lakers who played their second consecutive game without LeBron James. The Lakers also missed former Pelicans forward Anthony Davis who has been absent in the last month due to a calf strain. Brandon Ingram scored 36 points while Zion Williamson scored 27 points and 9 rebounds. Williamson has now set a record of 20 + points in 21 straight games, the most for a player under the age of 21 in NBA history. Ingram on the other hand was responsible for 65.2% of his team’s points in the third quarter, a ruthless display against his former team. It’s looking like a rough stretch of games for the NBA Champions who will look to overturn their form despite the absence of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The trade deadline will end on March 25th with the Lakers facing Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Chesapeake Energy Arena witnessed a record that hadn’t been broken since the 1985-86 season when the Lakers won their 7th successive game on the road. The reigning champions looked dominant throughout in what can only be described as a complete performance. The 36 year old Lebron James stood out from the pack with 26 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, despite the fact that he was almost a decade older than most Thunder players, showing his quality with five out of eight successful attempts behind the arc. Anthony Davis got 18 points and 7 rebounds and has been leading the charge for the Lakers from Houston to Oklahoma. Montrezl Harrell also dropped a defensive masterclass with 21 points and 6 rebounds in a space of 25 minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up a spirited display for the Oklahoma City Thunder with 17 points, but couldn't influence the result that seemed destined for a Lakers win. The Los Angeles side will be facing the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center hoping to carry on their form and momentum to extend their winning streak to five.

The Spurs beat the NBA champions 118 - 109 to end their 4 game winning streak. San Antonio Spurs overcame their early season slump in Los Angeles with a dominant display that saw five players reach double figures. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with a season high 28 points while Demar DeRozan got 19 points and 8 assists. The NBA champions saw LeBron James score 27 points and Anthony Davis get 23 points and 10 rebounds but saw their contributions fall short as the Lakers eventually lost by 9 points. The Spurs meant business right from the start, with a nine point lead that set the tone of the entire game. Their dominance was evident with a 15 point lead late in the first quarter and an eventual 65 - 56 lead at half-time. The Lakers eventually fought back with a 15 - 5 run to tie the score and a Montrezl Harell’s putback from a Talen Horton-Tucker’s miss evened the score at 89 with 1:04 to go before the Spurs seized the win. The Lakers will no doubt consider this a wake up call to make amends, especially in defense while the Spurs would consider this win a motivation to push forward and set their sights on the 2021 NBA Playoffs.