Highest-paid athletes of the World

Tiger Woods remains a sports’ highest paid athlete with an annual income two and a half times larger than his closest competitor. The world’s top golfer made $110 million during the past 12 months and is the best-paid sportsman for the eighth year.

Nike is by far Woods’ biggest benefactor with an annual payday of more than $30 million for the golfer. Woods profits from the success of the company’s golf division, and last year sales for Nike Golf hit a record $725 million. Woods’ most lucrative new endeavor is his golf course design business. Last year he announced plans for a third course to be built in Mexico. His other courses in Dubai and North Carolina are currently under construction.


Drop-offs from last year include boxer Floyd Mayweather (has not fought since December 2007), NFL players Ben Roethlisberger and Dwight Freeney (both made the 2008 list after inking contracts with big signing bonuses) and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso (just missed the cut).

The highest-ranking of the four newcomers to the list is boxer Manny Pacquiao who earned $40 million over the last year, tied for the sixth most. Pacquiao cemented his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter with convincing knockouts of Oscar De La Hoya in December and Ricky Hatton in May. The two blockbuster fights garnered more than 2 million pay-per-view buys in the U.S. and earned Pac-Man $30 million combined.

Pacquiao’s massive popularity in his native Philippines is why companies like Nike and San Miguel beer have signed him to endorse their products. Pacquiao intends to use that popularity to run for political office when his ring career is over.

The 20 highest earners have a very international flavor with Pacquiao one of eight non-Americans on the list. Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen earned $45 million over the past year, tied for second on our list with hoop legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Right behind that trio is global icon David Beckham who earned $42 million playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan.

NBA Finals 2009: LA Lakers beat Orlando Magic in Game 4

Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 99-91 to take a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals. The Magics, who has missed 14 free throw attempts in regulation, missed the chance to tie the series at two apiece.

The Magic built their biggest lead of the series in the second quarter, going up by 12 points as Orlando was imposing its will on the Lakers, taking a 49-37 advantage into the halftime dressing room.

As hot as Kobe Bryant was in the first quarter on Tuesday night in Game 3, that's how inconsistent he seemed through one tonight. Bryant scored 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting. Only three other Lakers have scored.



In Game 4 tonight, look for the Orlando Magic to stick with the same kind of guard rotation it did in Game 3, a 108-104 victory in which starting point guard Rafer Alston got the bulk of the playing time while scoring 20 points in 37 minutes on the floor against the Los Angeles Lakers.

All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson, who returned for the NBA Finals after missing half the regular season with a shoulder injury, was limited to 11 minutes Tuesday night. Mickael Pietrus, who got into foul difficulty in the first two games, played 31 minutes Tuesday night and scored 18 points off the bench.

NBA Finals: Orlando Magic won Game 3 over Los Angeles Lakers

The Magic won its first game in two visits to the NBA Finals as Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis scored 21 points apiece in a 108-104 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 last night at Amway Arena to pull within 2-1 in this best-of-seven series.

The Orlando Magic shot 62.5 percent from the field tonight, and so they won–barely, but they still won. It’s safe to say they won’t shoot that well again in this series. Only seven times this entire season did a team shoot better than 62 percent from the floor, and it never happened against the Laker defense.



Game 4 is tomorrow night Thursday, June 11, 9pm at Amway Arena, and Game 5 -- now necessary -- also will be at Amway Arena on Sunday.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Orlando vs Lakers Game 3

Watch NBA Finals live streaming online free. Magic vs Lakers game 3 this Tuesday June 9, 2009, 9pm. After the defeat of the Orlando Magic against the LA Lakers in Game 2 (101-96). The Lakers head to Orlando up by 2-0 but will the Magic defend their home court or will the Lakers take a commanding 3-0 series lead? The Amway Arena will be especially boisterous when the Orlando Magic host the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 3 of the NBA Finals 2009.



Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and all of the Magic players will have their work cut out for themselves and their hands full with Kobe Bryant and company coming to town.

NBA Finals: Lakers won Game 2 over Magic

Few days ago Lakers took game 1 and beat Magic, in game 2 it's lakers again with 101-96. Lakers won game 2 in overtime. Both teams tied at 88 all after 4th quarter.The NBA 2009 Finals standing after game 2 is 2-0 in favor of Lakers.

One team is trying to win for dominance and control, the other team is just trying to win to survive. The Los Angeles Lakers hold a 1-0 series lead against the Orlando Magic and are trying to make it 2-0 as they lead the Magic 40-35 at halftime of Game 2 of their best of seven series. The Lakers are making a balanced attack, with no one scoring in double digits. Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol lead the team in scoring with 7 points apiece, Kobe Bryant and Trevor Ariza have 6, and Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum each have 5. The Magic on the other hand are hanging on the shoulders of one man, Rashard Lewis. Lewis has a game high 20 points at the half with no signs of letting up. Although this is a good sign for Rashard, this isn't exactly the best news for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, as the next best scorer for the game is Dwight Howard with 4 points. Will Orlando be able to work it's Magic in the second half or will Kobe and the Lakers continue with their surge? More updates to come as the game progresses.

Orlando is now ahead by 3, 65-63 at the end of the third. Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard have joined Rashard Lewis in double digit scoring with 17 and 10 respectively. Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers with 16 with Pau Gasol scoring 13. Can the Magic hang on or will the Lakers make a momentum changing run. We will know the answer to these in 12 minutes.

The game is all tied at 86 with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter. Amazing game between Rashard Lewis and Kobe Bryant.

At the end of 48 minutes, the game has not been decided yet. The game is tied at 88 and an extra 5 minutes coming up for the Lakers and Magic.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Orlando vs Lakers Game 2

Watch NBA Finals live free online stream Magic vs Lakers game 2 this sunday June 7, 2009, 8pm. After defeat of Orlando Magic against the LA Lakers in Game 1 (100-75), Game 2 must be a spectacle to watch as Orlando Magic is expected to bounce back after Kobe Bryant stunned them with a 40 point contribution. This is the Lakers series to lose at this point. If they win NBA Finals Game 2 we think the series is a wrap, the next game is the most important game for both the Magic and the Lakers so stay tuned.

Watch Online: Los Angeles Lakers wins Game 1 NBA Finals

The Lakers dominate NBA Finals, Game 1, besting the Magic 100-75 to take the early series lead. They blew it open in the second quarter by thwarting the Magic on 10 of 11 possessions in one stretch, turning a five-point deficit into a seven-point bulge. By the end, Orlando shot just 29.9 percent, the lowest rate for any team in any game during this year's postseason.

It's easy to point to live-by-the-three, die-by-the-three as the reason for the letdown. Bt Orlando finished 8-for-23 from downtown. That's 34.8 percent -- just a shade off its 38.1 clip in the regular season.

It was actually the twos that hurt them. The Magic shot 27.7 percent from inside the arc, as the Lakers were able to unhitch Dwight Howard's anchor in the middle. If you cut the head off the beast the rest of its body will flail.
The Magic scored less than 80 points just once before all season -- an 82-73 loss to the Nuggets back in February. Some of the numbers from that game are eerily similar to Thursday; Orlando was 22-for-29 from the foul line and shot 30.4 percent from the field overall. But the glaring difference between that stinkfest and Game 1 was that Orlando had 23 turnovers, so the point total was self-inflicted.

Orlando took care of the ball on Thursday but couldn't match the Lakers' effort. "We played with a lot of energy," Kobe Bryant said. "Guys are working hard. That's all you can ask for when you played against the Orlando Magic."

Jackson said L.A. was able to stop penetration and limit the drive-and-kick opportunities for Jameer Nelson, Rafer Alston and Hedo Turkoglu.
Their second-leading scorer was even worse. Rashard Lewis shot just 2-for-10. Gasol owned the power forward matchup with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks compared to eight, five, zero and zero for Lewis.