This is a BETA experience. After establishing himself as a staraveraging 19.1 points and 8.1 assists per game as a rookie in 2018-19 and 25 to 30 points and 9 to 10 assists per game in every season sincethe Hawks gave Trae Young a lucrative five-year, $207 million contract extension in 2021. - Position: Small forward Also, by disabling these cookies you will also disable banner ads served by Google Adsense on this website.. For more information about these items, view our complete privacy policy.Read More. Paul George, F. LA Clippers. Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. Whatever they envisioned for the 2022-23 campaign could not have been this. One thing to know: Harden took a significant discount with the 76ers this off-season, perhaps the result of a down year in 2021-22. With the 2022 WNBA season tipping off Friday, we took a look at the league's highest-paid players. For now, however, lets dive into the full money breakdown for 2021-22, a season in which 50 different players are making at least $20 million. Defense remains his calling card, but there are nights he'll convince you he could become a go-to option or strong No. He continued his march toward billionaire status this week when his media and entertainment business, the SpringHill Company, announced the sale of a minority stake at a valuation of about $725 million. Before joining the team, he was an editor and multimedia talent for several sports and culture verticals at Minute Media and an editor, reporter, and site manager at SB Nation. First, teams can simply pay their best players more. An Anunoby trade would effectively empty Atlanta's asset collection, but if the Hawks see him as their missing piece, that's a price they can (and probably should) pay. The salary cap is determined during the offseason, but as stated earlier, it is liable to change.[2]. For the moment. Kyrie Irving, PG. Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images. That contract should make him one of the game's few superstars to play for only one team since he'll be 34 by the time the gig is up. Paul George of the LA Clippers starts off this list of the top 10 highest-paid players in the NBA, raking in over $35 million per year through the end of the 2021-22 He responded with his best start yet, averaging 34.4 points per game to lead the NBA for the first 14 games of the 2022-23 season, and his 7.8 assists ranked eighth. - 2022-23 Salary: $35,448,672. The 31-year-old has three years and a player option for a fourth remaining on his contract. - Team: Milwaukee Bucks [4] Next, the bi-annual exception can be used by teams every other year to sign a free agent(s) for up to two years at an amount set by the NBA. LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, making him the highest-paid player in NBA history, as first your CMS. Is a Jaylen Brown trade likely this summer? The team rewarded the 6-foot-5 guard with a four-year, $224 million contract extension in July 2022which he deserved after becoming only the seventh player to score 40 points in back-to-back games in a (2021) NBA Finals. One thing to know: Aldridge wasn't the flashiest player, but at his peak, he owned one of the most skillful low-post games and a buttery jumper that allowed him to average 20-plus points per game in seven seasons. Awards: 8x All-Star, 8x All-NBA, 3x Defensive Player of the Year, 5x All-Defensive, Career stats: 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists. Despite the Lakers missing the playoffs last season, James played well, putting up 30.3 points per game his most since the 2005-06 season. His magic from beyond the arc is literally game-changing and legendary, but he's also the glue holding the Warriors together as they claimed four NBA titles between 2015 and 2022. The four-timeMVP will bring in $111.2 million when accounting for all of his financial interests, according to Forbes, putting him ahead of Curry ($92.8 million), Durant ($87.9 million), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($80.3 million) and Westbrook ($74.2 million). Who else is making the big bucks? Under the leagues ten and spread system, last seasons losses could theoretically continue to cut into player pay, but with revenue projected to return to normal this season, the league expects any player losses to be within the escrow systems standard 10% cushion. Kevin Durant is currently one of the five highest-paid basketball players in his league, with a salary of US$42 million annually, per Celebrity Net Worth. It's a huge sliding doors moment for the Wolves.If he doesn't get All NBA this year, the Wolves will have to wait an additional 12 months to offer him an extension. In other words, he could add something to this squad right now and potentially add more down the line. Partnered with the USA TODAY Sports Media Group|Powered by. Since Phoenix drafted him in 2015, Booker has improved almost every year, averaging a career-high 26.8 points per game in 2021-22 and holding steady at 26.5 per game in the first 13 games of 2022-23. Create or join a NBA league and manage your team with live scoring, stats, scouting reports, news, and expert advice. He has certainly lost a step since, and he fell out of favor with the Nets last year, but he might still have more to offer a contender in a limited role. Golden State Warriors. This year, King James is ranked sixth on the NBA's highest paid NBA's riches reach a bit deeper, though, as the NFL's 25th-highest salary is $24 million and the MLB's is $25 million compared to the NBA's $33.7 million (Jrue Holiday). 3 in the country behind Kentucky and Duke. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Since Trae Young is still only 24 years old, the Hawks have a little time to wait on Williams' development. - Position: Shooting guard 1. Still, if the Chicago Bulls are anxious to build a winner around Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, maybe Atlanta can exploit that urgency and flip some of its win-now talent for Patrick Williams. - Team: Washington Wizards Rodman's career highlights include: - 2x NBA All-Star - 5x NBA Champion - 7x NBA Rebounding Champion - 2x NBA Defensive Player of the Year So, what happened? Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a salary of $18,724,000. Awards: 5x All-Star, 1x All-NBA, 1x All-Defensive, Career stats: 19.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.1 assists. Bottom line: Teach your son to shoot hoops! - Team: Portland Trail Blazers The Brooklyn Nets Kevin Durant ($87.9 million), the Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo ($80.3 million) and the Lakers Russell Westbrook ($74.2 million) round out the top five. LeBron James $387.3 million. Milwaukee Bucks forward (and reigning two-time MVP) Giannis Antetokounmpo is sixth with $49 million. - Position: Power forward Swinging a deal for O.G. - Position: Power forward 76ers vs. Celtics: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Heat vs. Knicks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Draymond Green: '[Malik] Monk said we was old', Klay Thompson on matchup against Lakers: 'It's just a dream come true. When Klay Thompson signed a five-year, $190 million contract in 2019 to stay with the Warriors, they knew his ACL surgery would likely sideline him for a full season but, combined with a later injury, cost him two seasons. Brady is the highest-paid player in NFL history with over $475M in career earnings. Combined, the NBAs ten top-earning players are set to make $714 million, up 28% from 2020-21 and 19% from the previous high of $600 million from 2019-20. - 2022-23 Salary: $44,474,988. Forbes has thus elected to credit players for their full salaries. The list of the 15 highest-paid players in NBA history features eight current players who are still adding to their totals, including Suns star Chris Paul, who will hit more than $300 million in career earnings this season. [3] Another exception, known as the mid-level exception, allows for teams that are over the salary cap to sign one or more players as long as they do not exceed the total amount of the average NBA salary. He is still playing his best basketball, averaging in the vicinity of 27 points per game over the last three seasonsand in the early games of the 2022-23 season. Rewarded for his consistent scoring with a five-year, $215 million contract in July 2022, he averaged 22.2 points over the first 15 games in 2022-23. [emailprotected]. Earlier this year, he became the first active NBA player to reach billionaire status, according to Forbes. Here is the breakdown on the Durant extension:22/23- $44.14M23/24- $47.64M24/25- $51.17M25/26- $54.70MThe first year number is 105% off his $42M salary in 21/22He is allowed to exceed 35% of the max ($41.65M). He has consistently been on the top 10 highest earning athletes since 2017. The Atlanta Hawks paid a small fortune to land Dejounte Murray during the 2022 NBA season. Under Armour, which pays him $20 million a year, launched Curry Brand in December, hoping to challenge Nikes Jordan Brand, and he last month announced a major endorsement deal with cryptocurrency platform FTX. LeBron James. With the NBAs highest salary ($34.4 million) and a new Under Armour brand, Steph Curry ranks second: Hes slated to earn a golden $74.4 million this season. Often injured but impressive when he's healthy, the center has been nearly that impactful (21 points, 8.2 rebounds) over the first 14 games of the 2022-23 season. - Position: Center Not at all, but who knows what impact a premature playoff exit by Boston could have? The 31-year-old, coming off a third-team all-NBA campaign and a dominant 2021 postseason, counts Nike, Gatorade and AT&T among his partners and is an investor in home gym company Tonal. The Atlanta Hawks paid a small fortune to land Dejounte Murray during the 2022 NBA season. The veteran point guard for the 76ers and Pelicans before joining the Bucks in 2020 managed to score 27 points in Game 5 of the Bucks-Suns NBA Finals. There are a few guidelines and There are 18 players whose earnings have topped $200 million and they are all still active. Stephen Curry is currently the highest-paid NBA player right now. - Team: Los Angeles Clippers He can become a free agent after this season by declining his $47 million player option for 2022-23. Whatever they envisioned for the 2022-23 campaign could not have Lillard is also the co-owner of a Toyota dealership outside Portland and raps under the name Dame D.O.L.L.A., showing off his flow in a Hulu commercial in January. If your organization is interested in becoming a Stacker That puts him closer to the ten auto dealerships he owns in Southern California, including a massive Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. Harden, who has leaned toward equity deals in recent years, took a stake in massage-device maker Therabody in February through his firm 13 Endeavors and joined Saks, the e-commerce offshoot of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, as an investor and board member in June. That keeps him atop Forbes ranking of the NBAs highest-paid players for the eighth straight year. Beal's sparkling 2020-21 seasonaveraging a career-high 31.3 points with a 48.5% shooting percentage and one 60-point game against the 76ersconvinced the Wizards that Beal is one magician they can't afford to lose. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience. He has continued to pick up sponsors during his time away, recently adding Hugo Boss and Shake Shack to a portfolio that also includes healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente and Tissot watches. Rodman's career highlights include: - 2x NBA All-Star - 5x NBA Champion - 7x NBA Rebounding Champion - 2x NBA Defensive Player of the Year So, what happened? In the first 14 games of the 2022-23 season, the 6-foot-1 point guard averaged 26.9 points and 9.3 assists per game. distribution partner, email us at You may also like: 12 times taxpayers footed big bills for new stadiums and arenas, - Team: Golden State Warriors Antetokounmpo is as hard to stop as his name is to pronounce. Boardroom is a media network that covers the business of sports, entertainment. The NBAs highest-paid players are set to collect more than $305 million combined off the court, easily beating last years record total of $260 million. Awards: 2X MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 8x All-Star, 8x All-NBA, Career stats: 24.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists. If Brown hits the trade block, Atlanta should offer the sun, moon and stars to Boston. Butler, who sold $20 cups of coffee out of his hotel room to fellow players in the NBAs 2020 playoff bubble in Florida, is now turning that half-serious side hustle into a legitimate business, announcing this month that he has joined Shopifys creator program with his coffee brand, Bigface. Ben Simmons' career began with a cascade of superlatives: first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Rookie of the Year honors, and three All-Star nods. The Australian is one of the league's most prominent critics. The Clippers miss his scoring prowess24.8 points per game in 2020-21 before he signed a four-year, $176.3 million contractand then he missed the entire 2021-22 season after ACL surgery. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents fees. One thing to know: According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Horford has only $14.5 million of his $26.5 million salary guaranteed, but it becomes fully guaranteed if he wins the Finals. The contract extension follows another milestone for James. Because the exact figures wont be known until after the season ends in June, Forbes has elected to credit players for their full salaries this year. He is also the subject of a biopic from Walt Disney currently in production, and he recently bought a small stake in baseballs Milwaukee Brewers. The Hawks learned this season that the addition of Murray didn't do enough to fix their defense. You may also like: Iconic moments in sports that defined the '70s. LeBron James looks well on his way to becoming the second billionaire to emerge from pro basketball, after Michael Jordan, who joined the three-comma club in retirement. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. 22 The No. - 2022-23 Salary: $47,063,478. republish under a Creative Commons License, and we encourage you to He had his best scoring season (29.9 per game) during that season and notched his 30th career triple-double (26 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) in his eighth game of the 2022-23 season. Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is the tenth-highest-paid player, projected to earn $39 million, mostly thanks to his $25 million salary. 2. LeBron "King James" James is only sixth on the list with a cap hit of $41,180,544. He is exactly what this team needs, simultaneously scratching itches for defense, shooting, secondary scoring (and distributing) and star power. Jokics new deal is the richest contract in the history of the NBA and only behind Stephen Curry in NBA history when it comes to per-year average. It also includes a $60 million player option for the 2027-28 season. To say that the two-time reigning NBA MVP has earned this would be an understatement. James is 37, but the rest of the players on this list are in their twenties or early thirties. NBA contracts keep - 2022-23 Salary: $37,096,500. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. His scoring and rebounding have fallen off compared to his seven years with the Pelicans, but he got off to a solid start in the first 12 games of 2022-23 by averaging 24.3 points and 11.2 rebounds, both better than his career averages. He remains a force at 34 as the first player to score at least 25 points in the first 12 games of a season (2022-23) since Michael Jordan. - 2022-23 Salary: $37,980,720. The Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry takes the runner-up spot with $92.8 million, which would have been a record for an NBA player just a year and half ago. If you're wondering how the highest-earning players in the NBA stack up financially against their major-sport counterparts, #1 Stephen Curry's $48.1 million is similar to the NFL's #1 earner, quarterback Aaron Rodgers ($50.3 million) and the MLB's #1 earner, pitcher Max Scherzer ($43.3 million). He's been one of the NBA's best guards since. - 2022-23 Salary: $33,833,400. Three players will earn a league-high $228,094 on WNBA supermax salaries this season, per Spotrac. Both are solid on both offense and defense. - Position: Shooting guard Then came his grievances against the 76ers, which had agreed to a five-year, $170 million contract extension in 2019, and a holdout that prompted a multi-player trade in February 2022 to the Nets. To publish, simply grab the HTML code or text to the left and paste into Because basketball stars are considered to be past their prime after 30, it would seem that a player who turns 38 in December 2022 shouldn't rank so high on this list. The 32-year-old recently added Hennessy as a sponsor and is behind eyewear brand Westbrook Frames and clothing label Honor The Gift. An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". A ProPublica report in July indicated James had declared $124 million in income on his 2018 tax return; however, Forbes has not been able to obtain the document to verify its authenticity or determine whether the $124 million figure included pass-through income. Career stats: 14.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists. Anunobylikely at the cost of John Collins and sweetenersmight do the trick. I will stay where I'm needed and treated correct.". Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active NBA players. https://t.co/toBjpvmhEq. By: HoopsHype. Follow him on Twitter @RealFakeSamDunn. Joe Fulks, power forward for the Philadelphia Warriors, earned a then-lucrative $8,000, the fruits of leading the league in scoring. WebBelow are the 23 richest NBA players of all time: 23. As the 2023 concert season offers fans an unparalleled A new survey polled 1,000 NFL fans on how much theyd be willing to spend if it meant their team would win the Super Bowl. WebFind out who made the cut in 2021's Forbes list of highest-paid basketball players around the world: Fans across the US are craving concerts. In his return to the court from an Achilles injury last season, Kevin Durant was as dominant as ever, falling just a toes length short of an Eastern Conference finals appearance, and he was rewarded with a four-year, $198 million contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets in August. - Team: Brooklyn Nets Yahoo Fantasy Basketball. - Team: Brooklyn Nets James is not expected to pocket much cash from the deal, instead reinvesting the bulk of the proceeds into the business, a source close to the transaction tells Forbes. Sources: The NBA has set salary cap for 2021-22 season, effective for August free agency: $112,414,000 cap, $136,606,000 tax line. Jordan Greer is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News. One thing to know: George has long been one of the NBA's best two-way players but has struggled to stay healthy. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors: $48,070,014. But I will stay where I'm wanted. George's four-year, $190 million contract extension signed in 2020 has proven to be a bargain as he led the Clippers to their first Western Conference Finals in franchise history in 2021, and his averages of 23.8 points and 6.3 rebounds early in the 2022-23 season show he hasn't lost much of his mojo. One thing to know: Griffin is only three years removed from an All-NBA season. - Position: Shooting guard Browse our online application for MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, EPL, or MLS player contracts, salaries, transactions, and more. 49. The Warriors star once again finds himself on top of the list of the NBA's highest-paid players. The Sixers desperately want to shed their habit of playing well in the regular season but faltering in the postseason. KAT is supermax extension eligible (4 years, $200 million) only if he makes All NBA this summer. $27,300,000. Awards: 4x MVP, 4x Finals MVP, 18x All-Star, 18x All-NBA, Career stats: 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists. The good news: He helped lead them to the 2022 NBA title and has avoided injuries since then, though his 33% three-point shooting through 15 games in 2022-23 suggests he's still searching for his shot. But the surge in this years top-ten total also owes a great deal to two factors on the court, where the highest-paid players are raking in $408 million, up from a high of $351 million in 2019-20. Liz Cambage plays for the Las Vegas Aces and is probably the highest-paid WNBA player of all time. To that end, most Stacker stories are freely available to In July 2022, he signed a jaw-dropping two-year, $225 million contract extension that was tagged onto the end of his four-year, $176.3 million gig. Minnesota picked up the five-year, $205 million contract extension he signed with the Jazz in 2020, and days after Minnesota's October 2022 opener, he paired 21 rebounds with 22 points in a win over the Lakers. Of course, LeBron James is the leagues highest-paid player, trailed by Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. The Heat handed him a four-year, $184 million contract extension in 2021 for all that versatility. Sam Dunn is the Managing Editor of Boardroom. LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, making him the highest-paid player in NBA history, as first reported by ESPN. - 2022-23 Salary: $44,124,845. The NBA announced in August that the salary cap has been set at $112.414 million for the 2021-22 season, an approximately three percent jump from the previous campaign. 6 overall, but he owns the title ofhighest earner in NBA history. Atlanta, an Eastern Conference finalist just two seasons back, fell in the first round to the Boston Celtics. Career stats: 13.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists. He's also golden when it matters most, with five 40-point games in the postseason. Boardroom breaks down the complicated world. Interestingly, the top of the list is dominated by three California teams with the Warriors, Clippers, and Lakers each placing two stars in the top 10. Russell Westbrook is Mr. Versatile, as his 194 triple-doubles are the most in the history of the NBA. Highest-paid NBA Players of 2022 by Total Salary. Golden State Warriors forward (and CBD entrepreneur) Klay Thompson is the seventh-highest-paid NBA star, expected to earn $43.3 million this year. 22 "We'll see how they feel about me over time and I feel about them over time," Brown told The Ringer's Logan Murdock. And with the way James is still playing, it's not out of the question he signs another big deal after that. WebIf you're wondering how the highest-earning players in the NBA stack up financially against their major-sport counterparts, #1 Stephen Curry's $48.1 million is similar to the NFL's #1 earner, quarterback Aaron Rodgers ( $50.3 million) and the MLB's #1 earner, pitcher Max Scherzer ($43.3 million ). Aside from his NBA salary, James' $1.2 billion net worth includes money from endorsements, business investments and his own entertainment production company. With players often signing short-term contracts or long-term deals that include an opt-out clause, the culture has become one of total player empowerment: The stars have a say in where, with whom, and for how much money they would like to play. Zach LaVine is no Michael Jordan, but he is carrying on the MJ tradition as a solid scorer and flashy dunker for the Bulls. List of highest paid Major League Baseball players, "Kobe Bryant to Become NBA's Second Ever $30-Million Player", "The NBA's 25 highest-paid players for the 2016-17 season", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Highest-paid_NBA_players_by_season&oldid=1142898961, National Basketball Association statistical leaders, Employee compensation in the United States, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 22:55. - Position: Point guard Stacker believes in making the worlds data more accessible through Chris Paul ranks ninth this year. Damian Lillard rejected an off-season report that he was prepared to request a trade from the Portland Trail Blazersthe only pro team he has ever knownbut he will continue to be dogged by speculation after demanding urgency from the organization. James, for instance, is credited with receiving $41.2 million on the court, up from the $31.4 million Forbes assigned him for 2020-21. Kobe Bryant became just the second player to reach $30 million when the 201314 season began. - Position: Shooting guard - 2022-23 Salary: $37,096,500. It also represents a staggering 132% increase from a decade ago. WebNBA Player Earnings Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active NBA players. - 2022-23 Salary: $37,633,050. One thing to know: The bulk of John Wall's earnings came from a 4-year, $171 million contract he signed in 2017. The highest-paid basketball player during the 1946 through 1947 season was technically Tom King, playing guard for the Detroit Falcons.However, Kings $16,500 salary also accounted for his job duties as the business But a five-year, $177.5 million contract signed in 2019 kept Middleton part of the Bucks' triumvirate, a wise investment for the team that would win the 2021 NBA title. 2 at some point. storytelling. Check out the full breakdownbelow. Over the first 15 games of his 11th season for Portland in 2022-23, he averaged a solid 27.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, both better than his career average. The 31 highest-paid players in the NBA all make at least $30 million per year. Last summer, he became the first player to ever sign a second $200 million deal. Here's a look at the 10 all-time highest-earning NBA players, including both active and inactive players: Despite James' nearly two-decade dominance on the court, his career earnings have only just eclipsed that of younger stars in the league. - Position: Power forward NFL Draft weekend is here, and every team is Sign up for Boardrooms newsletters to get the biggest stories in the business of sports, entertainment, and culture directly in your inbox daily. $42,492,492. Starring for the Brooklyn Nets after a blockbuster trade in January, James Harden ties with John Wallcoincidentally a member of his old team, the Houston Rocketsfor the NBAs second-highest salary this season, with a $47.4 million player option for next year. - Position: Point guard WebWith the NBAs highest salary ($34.4 million) and a new Under Armour brand, Steph Curry ranks second: Hes slated to earn a golden $74.4 million this season. Former Rockets teammates James Harden and John Wall aren't far behind Curry at $44.3 million, and Russell Westbrookand Kevin Durant round out the top five. The Atlanta Hawks paid a small fortune to land Dejounte Murray during the 2022 NBA season. LeBron James is ranked fourth on Forbes' list of the world's highest paid athletes from 2010-2019. - Team: Los Angeles Lakers - 2022-23 Salary: $35,448,672. 9. Despite losing nearly $1 million while taking a pause in January 2021, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is still eighth with $43 million. She often slams the pay disparity with the NBA and advocates for better treatment of players like their counterparts in Asia and Europe. Contract: 5 years, $201,158,790 - Team: Milwaukee Bucks The duo signed with Memphis during the November early signing period as part of an acclaimed six-man recruiting class that is ranked No.