Who is B.C.'s highest paid pro athlete? (Hint: he could be from Trail)

The $50 million dollar, four-year contract just signed by Kamloops NBAer Kelly Olynyk got us in the CBC newsroom wondering : who is the best paid B.C. athlete of all time?

And by us I mean myself and news producer Steve Lus.

Steve is from Trail and like all guys from Trail worships Ray Ferraro, Andy Bilesky and some of the Tambellinis.

And like all guys from Trail, he knows Olynyk's annual paycheque — which will top out at almost $13.4 million four years from now — won't even come close to putting him at the top of the heap when it comes to B.C. athletes who earned the most in a single season.

Because that crown belongs to a guy from Trail.

Kind of.

Here's our list of B.C. pro athletes who earned, or will earn, the most in one season of playing their sport, based on their highest-earning season.

- *Joe Sakic, Burnaby — $17 million in 1997-98, with the Colorado Avalanche

(Steve says Burnaby Joe deserves an asterisk because of the one-time $15 million signing bonus included in this amount)

2. Jason Bay, Trail — $16 million per year in 2011, 2012 and 2013, New York Mets

​3. Ryan Dempster, Gibsons — $14.5 million in 2011, Chicago Cubs

​4. ​Shea Weber, Sicamous — $14 million per year, 2012-13 through 2015-16, Nashville Predators

5. Justin Morneau, New Westminster — $14 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Minnesota Twins

6. Kelly Olynyk, Kamloops — $13.372 million, 2020-21, Miami Heat (future amount)

7. Steve Nash, Victoria — $13.125M in 2009-10, Phoenix Suns

8. Larry Walker, Maple Ridge — $12.667 million per year 2002 through 2005, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals

9. Carey Price, Anahim Lake — approximately $10.5 million per year, Montreal Canadiens (future amount based on average of new eight-year, $84 million contract details of which have not been revealed.)

10. Paul Kariya, North Vancouver — $10 million per year 1999-2000 through 2002-03, Anaheim Mighty Ducks

With files from Steve Lus