Top 10 Highest Earning American Athletes [2009]

#1 Tiger Woods

Pro Golf
Last Year's Rank: #1
Salary: $7,737,626
Endorsements: $92,000,000
Total Earnings: $99,737,626
Tiger sacrificed millions in appearance fees during his year off to recover from knee surgery, but replaced his lucrative Buick deal -- voided by mutual consent -- with a new one from AT&T.

#2 Phil Mickelson

Pro Golf
Last Year's Rank: #2
Salary: $6,350,356
Endorsements: $46,600,000
Total earnings: $52,950,356
Like Tiger, Phil no longer counts on a car-maker in his endorsement portfolio. (Ford chose not to re-sign him.) He still has lucrative deals with Rolex, Callaway, Exxon, Barclay's and KPMG.

#3 LeBron James

Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: #3
Salary: $14,410,581
Endorsements: $28,000,000
Total earnings: $42,410,581
LeBron has one more season left under his deal before he can opt out. If Cleveland doesn't show it's Finals-worthy by next spring, expect the Knicks to come in with a huge offer.

#4 Alex Rodriguez

New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: #6 (tie)
Salary: $33,000,000
Endorsements: $6,000,000
Total earnings: $39,000,000
We're in the middle of A-Rod's peak earning power in his middle-loaded, 10-year megadeal: He'll make another $33 million in 2010 and then gradually decrease to a "normal" $20 million by '17.

#5 Shaquille O'Neal

Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: #6 (tie)
Salary: $20,000,000
Endorsements: $15,000,000
Total earnings: $35,000,000
The Big Bargaining Chip? Regardless of his trade to Cleveland, Shaq is in the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed while with Miami. It's the largest expiring deal in the NBA.

#6 Kevin Garnett

Boston Celtics (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: #8
Salary: $24,750,000
Endorsements: $10,000,000
Total Earnings: $34,750,000
After earning a team-high in salary this past season, KG shoots down to $16.4 million in '09-10 as his three-year extension kicks in, making him the lowest earner of Boston's Big Three.

#7 Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: #5
Salary: $21,262,500
Endorsements: $10,000,000
Total earnings: $31,262,500
While Kobe's league-high $23 million salary next season is certainly befitting of an NBA Finals MVP, it'll also eat up more than a third of the Lakers' cap room to rebuild under the luxury tax.

#8 Allen Iverson

Detroit Pistons (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: #12
Salary: $21,937,500
Endorsements: $7,000,000
Total earnings: $28,937,500
AI just finished the final year of the six-year, $76 million extension he signed in '03 with the Sixers. Larry Brown would be open to signing him in Charlotte -- no doubt at a big discount.

#9 Derek Jeter

New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: #10
Salary: $20,000,000
Endorsements: $8,500,000
Total earnings: $28,500,000
Yankee captain now has a place to get the kids involved in his Turn 2 Foundation in shape: He opened his second co-branded 24-Hour Fitness gym in Manhattan, and a third is scheduled.

#10 Peyton Manning

Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Last Year's Rank: #9
Salary: $14,500,000
Endorsements: $13,000,000
Total earnings: $27,000,000
NFL's top endorser has distributed $500,000 in grants in '09 through his PayBack Foundation to charities in Indianapolis, near his alma mater (Tennessee) and his hometown, New Orleans.

Source: Sports Illustrated