Report: LeBron James seeking full maximum contract extension to stay with Miami

Miami Heat forward LeBron James is tired of taking a pay cut.

Consider this: in his 10 seasons as a professional basketball player, James has never once been the highest-paid player on his team. His salary matched that of Chris Bosh's over the last four years, but for the most part, the best player in the world has not even been the best-paid player on his own team.

Most of that has been James' choosing. He and his representatives have crafted his salary structure to accommodate for teammates and other allocations. For example, James took a pay cut to help Miami flesh out the team with talent in 2010.

However, those charitable ways seem to be coming to an end. A report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports cites that James wants a full maximum contract extension (worth up to $130 million) - "or something close to it" - to stay in Miami.

The news comes as somewhat of a surprise, as James' decision to opt-out was viewed as a ploy for Miami to carve out cap room. His teammates Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Bosh have since followed suit in opting out. The expectation was for each player to sacrifice a portion of their salaries so the team could restock it's peripheral talent.

The Heat would love to have James on the team regardless of his price. However, as San Antonio's Finals victory revealed, the Heat will need more than just their core "Big Three" to recapture the championship.