The Skinny: Highest Paid Athletes 2010

The highest paid athletes 2010 - Some of the world's highest paid professions are held by professional athletes. From brand endorsements, to being paid for their athletic abilities, they bring home the bacon.
Here are the top 10:

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. [34 Million] Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the list because, frankly, he’s one popular guy. He’s won the NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Award for the sixth consecutive time. His sales in the market are twice that of any other competitor, and yet hasn't won a single race since 2008 (which was only 1 race).

9. Valentino Rossi [35 Million] Valentino is an Italian motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP champion. Many consider him to be one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, with eight Grand-Prix World Championships to his name.

6. Manny Pacquiao [40 Million] is a multi-talented boxer, politician, singer, and actor. Ring Magazine claims that he’s the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world and the Boxing Writers Association claims that he’s the “Fighter of the Decade.”

6. Phil Mickelson [40 Million] Lefty is one of two golfers on this list. He’s amassed about $54 Million in prize money during his career and makes much more in endorsements from Callaway and Rolex.

6. LeBron James [40 Million] The NBA's latest immortal is a two-time MVP award recipient, first in the 08-09 season and then again in the 09-10 season. He's also the lowest paid of the three basketball players in the top 3.

5. David Beckham [42 Million] is one of the best known soccer players on the planet. David Beckham is also one of the highest paid athletes in the world and is the only futbol (soccer) player to appear in the top 10 highest paid athletes of 2010.

2. Kimi Räikkönen [45 Million] nicknamed Iceman, and occasionally described as "the fastest driver on the planet," Kimi won the Formula One World Driver's Championship in 2007.

2. Michael Jordan [45 Million]: Yeah. Seven years after his (last) retirement, we still find MJ here on the list.

2. Kobe Bryant [45 Million] is tied with the legendary Jordan and Formula One driving Raikkonen. He does this by raking in almost $20 mil a year through his NBA contract and more than doubles that through endorsement deals with Vitamin Water, Coca-Cola, and Nike.

1. Tiger Woods [110 Million] is golf's legend and is on track to surpass 1 billion in earnings from winnings and endorsements from his 13 year career.

Source: The Post Chronicle