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How much money does a professional basketball player make
How much money does a professional basketball player make
How Much Do NBA Players Make On Average?
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We are used to NBA players living a luxurious life in multi-million dollar mansions and expensive cars and brands. The salary of an NBA player is unlimited as they also receive bonuses from wins and titles and the base salary. Recently, NBA clubs have also created additional income for players by signing contracts with sponsors such as online casinos.
How much do NBA players make? According to Basketball Reference, the average player salary for the 2020-2021 season is $7.5 million. The highest-paid NBA player is Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry when pocketing $45 million this year.
This average salary is very high compared to the standard level in all US sports leagues.![]()
To learn more about wages and the list of NBA players who get paid the highest and lowest, read on with Scott Fujita.
The NBA average salary in 2020-2021 season
Contents
How Much Do NBA Players Make A Year?The NBA players get paid an average salary of around $7.5 million. The median salary, as known as middle salary, is about $3.8 million. The Basketball Reference says the salary cap for the 2020-2022 season is $109.1 million.
View more: How much do NBA refs make
The NBA’s minimum salary is always much higher than the rest of the sports leagues in North America. If first-time players are selected in the top NBA Draft list, wages are often much higher for NBA rookies (first-time players). New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson earns $9.7 million per season. He is the first pick overall of the 2019 NBA Draft.
Wages for veteran players will also increase depending on how long they are in the tournament.
To give a most objective comparison, the NFL only pays its players about $450k. The NHL and MLB set a minimum wage of $500k.
Highest Paid NBA Players In 2020-2022 SeasonUnlike an average NBA player, the players on the list below receive incredible and admirable salaries. Let’s find out who they are and which team they currently play for.
#1. Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors- Annual Salary: $45,780,966
Stephen Curry
Shooting machine Steph Curry received an outstanding base salary to become the highest-paid player this season. The Golden State star grossed $92.8 million during this time. The latest step in his career is the announcement of the Curry brand under the support of Under Armor.
The new venture is worth about $20 million a year, with a mix of clothing, shoes, and accessories for various sports. People predicted that this number would increase if it received public love.
Curry’s other ventures include a new endorsement deal with crypto platform FTX. He is also the owner of the production company Unanimous Media with the series Holey Moley.
View more:
- Charles barkley net worth
- Who is the highest paid NBA player
#2. John Wall – Houston RocketsSecond on the list is John Wall, point guard of the Houston Rockets. He has an impressive average of 20.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 6.9 APG during the season. The salary he received was enough to understand how important Wall was to the club.
#3. Russell Westbrook – Los Angeles LakersThe past year has been an exciting journey for Russell Westbrook. While his slump in form and transfers between several teams may have affected his image, not his earnings.
With a $44 million starting salary, Westbrook added another $30 million thanks to an impressive partnership with Nike and ten auto dealerships in Southern California.
#4. James Harden – Brooklyn Nets- Annual Salary: $43,848,000
The Brooklyn Nets have closed one of the biggest deals in NBA history with the Beard, and it was the right decision. Harden’s arrival on the roster keeps the Nets’ record steady.
In December, Harden officially became the investor and creative director of Pura fragrances. The player also benefits from contracts with Art of Sport, BodyArmor, and Stance.
#5. Damian Lillard – Portland Trail BlazersDamian Lillard
The longtime keeper of the All-NBA team and Portland Trailblazers star rose three spots on the list of highest NBA player salaries this year. Through partnerships and endorsement deals with Gatorade’s Bolt24 product line, Lillard earns a fortune.
Last year, the young man also launched an annual internship program for half a dozen disadvantaged students at New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago high schools.
#6. LeBron James – Los Angeles LakersIt would be unbelievable if King James did not appear on the list. With just a $32 million-a-year Nike contract, LeBron James is well on his way to becoming the second billionaire to emerge from the league. That number, combined with a salary of $41.2 million, is enough to put James on the Forbes list of the highest-earning NBA players of 2021.
The SpringHill Company business, his entertainment, and media company, is also notable. They announced a minority stake sale at a valuation of $725 million.
James also joins fitness company Tonal as a brand ambassador and investor. He also allows Fortnite to use the image to create lovable characters.
#7. Kevin Durant – Brooklyn Nets- Annual Salary: $40,918,900
Kevin Durant’s base salary is admirable, but he’s also an investing genius.
In December, technology company Uber bought the food delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion. Durant invested back in this startup in 2016 with $1 million. The current figure is already $15 million.
Durant’s Thirty-Five Ventures is also expected to make a lot of money investing in many other companies. These include online banking Mercury, fantasy sports startup Sleeper, and investing apps Robinhood and Acorns.
#8. Paul George – LA ClippersPaul George will be making money this season for The Clippers without his teammate Kawhi Leonard for the foreseeable future. However, momentum will be high when the 31-year-old begins a four-year, $190 million contract extension
His partners include Nike, Gatorade, AT&T, and he recently became an investor in-home gym company Tonal.
#9. Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee BucksGiannis Antetokounmpo
Defending champion Giannis Antetokounmpo deserves to be on the list of the highest-paid players of 2021.
The huge five-year $228 million contract with Milwaukee is an impossibility.
Antetokounmpo still has a lot of growth potential at only 26 years old. More specifically, he seems to have discussed with Disney a documentary about the star’s journey from Greece to the NBA champion. Forbes says the film will be released in 2022.
#10. Klay Thompson – Golden State WarriorsThe Golden State Warriors shooting guard suffered one of the most unfortunate injuries in sports history. Even so, he is still making a tremendous amount of money. The All-Star member joined Paul Rodriguez, Alex Morgan, and Travis Pastrana to launch Just Live, a CBD brand.
The star also has endorsement deals with Mercedes-Benz, Kaiser Permanente, and Tissot. A source said Thompson is in talks with Chinese shoe partner Anta.
Who Is The Lowest Paid NBA Player?NBA G-League players
There isn’t a single player with the lowest salary, but players with two-way contracts with the G-League are the NBA players receiving the most inadequate compensation.
They make an average of $77k per year and an additional minimum wage by the size of rookies from the NBA.
During the NBA preseasons and summer camps, NBA teams often invite G-League players to play for them. Players will receive 45 days of play for their favorite NBA teams. For players who hit the max, their annual salary falls around $400k.
Final ThoughtsThe NBA players get paid an average salary of $7.5 million a year for the 2020-2021 season. This number is not minor, and it proves the popularity and love of the audience for the tournament.
With the news that the salary cap for the new season will be more comprehensive, we will be ready to expect impressive performances and talented faces to shine on the court.
NBA Pay Scale | Work
By Chron Contributor Updated August 04, 2020
Professional basketball players, especially those in the National Basketball Association, or NBA, make considerable sums of money. NBA teams spend tens of millions of dollars a year to stock their rosters with the most talented players in the league.
Star players can make upwards of $40 million a year, and those at the bottom of the pay scale bring home at least $50,000.
NBA Salary Cap
The NBA sets a team salary cap each season and fines teams that spend more or less than the established maximum and minimum requirements. The salary cap for the 2019-2020 season is $109.14 million, and the minimum team salary is $98.226 million.
The minimum amount paid to an NBA player is always set at 90 percent of the salary cap. The league also establishes a tax level, which for this season is set at $132.627 million, and taxes teams $1 for each $1 by which it exceeds this amount. As such, it is in the best interest of the team not to exceed the tax level.
Highest Paid NBA Player 2019
According to ESPN, the highest paid NBA player for the 2019-2020 season is Stephen Curry, who earns over $40 million.
He plays for the Golden State Warriors. He is followed closely by Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets, who both earn $38.5 million.
They are followed closely by John Wall and James Harden, who both earn $37.8 million. LeBron James and Kevin Durant each earn over $37 million, as well. They are followed, in descending order, by Blake Griffin, at $34 million, and Kyle Lowry and Paul George at $33 million.
Lowest Paid NBA Player
The NBA minimum salary changes each year, and is dependent upon skill level and experience. Rookies, players on NBA rosters for the first time receive the lowest NBA salary and were paid at least $50,000 this season. However, most players earned at least $100,000 according to the minimum salary rule. The league also sets limits on how much money top draft picks receive.
Low-paid NBA players include Tyler Ulis, Hollis Thompson, Tyler Lydon, William Howard and Isaiah Taylor, all of whom were set to earn $50,000 in the 2019-2020 season. Players like Jaylen Adams, Yante Maten, Donta Hall, and Tyler Cook earned around $100,00 in the 2019-2020 season.
Many NBA players earn much more, however. Salaries for some players ranked 526th of the overall salaries in the league at $186,000 this season jump to $1.7 million for players for the 2020-2021 season. This underscores the importance of a good contract, great season of play an an excellent agent or negotiator.
Highest and Lowest Paying Teams
According to Basketball Reference, the Portland Trail Blazers have the highest team payroll in the NBA, with over $138.9 million set aside for 2019-2020. The second highest payroll costs are for the Milwaukee Bucks, which has contracts totalling more than $135 million.
The Miami Heat come in third at $134 million.
The New York Knicks have the lowest team payroll at $111 million. NBA teams spend considerable sums of money on marketing and merchandising, and rely on their budgets to cover the costs of travel, equipment, and other expenses.
How much do NBA stars earn? Salary rating-2019 - Blogg on the floor - Blogs
We count other people's millions.
Many people know that the NBA has a salary cap. It is set at $109.14 million for the 2019/20 season.
But not everyone knows that the salary cap is directly tied to the league's income. And with it - the salaries of all players. Basketball players make millions of dollars because the NBA makes billions of dollars.
8.2 billion, to be exact - that's how much the NBA expects to receive in the coming season in the form of "Basketball-related income" (BRI, basketball-related income).
This BRI includes only $400-500 million converted from yuan, so don't worry: even a complete break in relations with China won't take more than five or six percent off the BRI.
Under the 2017 Collective Agreement between the league and the players union, 50%* of BRI goes to players in the form of salaries.
* - actually not, but in order not to load the text with nuances, I will explain them in the comments.
There are 510 jobs in the league - each of the 30 teams can apply for 17 people.
51 NBA players - exactly 10% - will receive at least $20 million next season **.
** - and again I suggest going to the comments for those who want abstruseness.
The “Gini coefficient” and other indicators of financial inequality in the NBA as in a single economy look better than the global ones: if in the real world the richest 10% own 75-85% of all wealth (in the USA - 70-75% according to various estimates ), then in the NBA, the top 10% earn only 35% of all salaries.
But even this 35% is more than one and a half billion dollars. Or, in other words, 1,655 NBA rookie minimum contracts.
Let's look at how this one and a half billion is distributed. For a round number, we will limit ourselves to the top 50 earning more than 20 million; The 51st player in the ranking with a salary of exactly 20 million is Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon. If you go to the basketball section less than once a week, then most likely you don’t even know who it is. And he earns more than Aguero, James, Neuer or any Serie A player except Cristiano.
Who is not in this part of the rating? For example, Philadelphia's rising star Ben Simmons, who signed a five-year, $170 million contract this summer that won't take effect until a year later, is now playing on a "modest" $8 million rookie salary.
For the same reason, Utah leader Donovan Mitchell, Dallas' delightful Luka Doncic, or intimidating rookie Zion Williamson are not yet on the NBA's Most Valuable Players list.
All of them still earn a fixed salary (depending on the number under which the player was taken in the draft), for which they need to play 4 seasons before claiming a luxurious life.
Who is in this part of the rating? Giannis. The current NBA MVP - and the future, according to some forecasts, too.
Greek-Frick did not make the top 40 for a number of reasons, the main of which is that the NBA does not revise existing contracts (with some exceptions that are so rare that they do not even deserve an asterisk and a footnote in the commentary). Antetokounmpo signed his contract back in 2016, by that time the Greek had never played in the All-Star Game, averaging 17 points and playing as the main point guard of the very weak Bucks (49losses in a season).
And Giannis, not so long ago a beggar teenager who sold souvenirs on the streets of Athens and ran in patched sneakers, was so grateful that Milwaukee believed in him that he did not insist on either a maximum contract or even a player option in the last year contract.
He was told that he would receive $100 million, and he was stunned by this amount - and it does not matter that at the same time as him, Stephen Adams also signed for exactly the same contract, whom Oklahoma renewed only in a panic from losing Durant.
All in all, Antetokounmpo did great humanly but naively economically three years ago: Giannis has already lost $33 million by waiving his maximum wage and has also pushed back his possible free agency entry from 2020 to 2021.
That's why next year he will be so low in the rankings again. But then - hello to the biggest contract in the history of the NBA.
There are now only 32 people in the NBA with maximum contracts of (this number does not include DeRozan, whose salary was maximum only in the first two years of the contract, Horford and Love, who played at maximum levels a year ago, Vucevic, and Millsap and Middleton from the next group).
At the same time, almost everyone has different salaries.
How did it happen?
To answer this question, needs to understand how maximum contracts are formed .
Maximum contracts come in three levels depending on the player's experience:
- up to 6 league seasons - 25% of ceiling;
- 7-9 seasons - 30%;
- and more 10 - 35%
A player can jump up one category by becoming MVP, NBA Defensive Player of the Year or making the All-Star Team of the Season. At the same time, all these 25, 30 and 35% form only the salary in the first season. For example, now 25% of the ceiling is the salary of Russell, Porzingis, Booker, Townes. The first two signed a contract this summer, and the last two lasted a year ago, just their agreements implied entry into force in 2019-m.
And then everything changes: Russell, who signed a contract with a new team, Golden State after Brooklyn, will have an annual increase of 5%. Towns, who lasted with Minnesota, has 8%. And next year their salaries will be different.
Other players signed maximum wages in other years when there was a different salary cap. Anthony Davis received 25% of the ceiling in 2016 (he could have received 30%, but he got injured in the key season 15/16 and did not make the team of the season). Then, when he moved to the Lakers, he voluntarily forfeited a trading bonus so the Los Angelesers could sign a third star this summer.
Voiceover: They couldn't.
So it turned out that Davis and three other maximum speeds in 2016 are not included in the top 30, since they are slightly behind the maximum contracts concluded later, in 2017-2019 - the growth rate of the ceiling and, consequently, the new maximum speeds were higher than the increase in their contracts .
Six people signed a new contract this year with a starting salary of 30% of the ceiling. And they are all different:
The strangest one is with Kyrie Irving: 1 million allocated to 8 bonuses, for which he needs to play in 70 games, hit 88.
5% of free throws in a season, lose the ball no more than 2.4 times per game and so on. He did not achieve all this a year ago, and bonuses are not yet taken into account in his salary.
Tobias Harris will receive the maximum in the first year of his contract only, and will receive a total of 10 million less in the remaining seasons.
Clay Thompson signed up for 5 years.
Kemba Walker and Jimmy Butler - for 4 years, the only difference is a possible trading bonus in Kemba's contract.
Kawhi signed up for 3. And the third year is a player option, so he should be a free agent again in 2021.
Yes, it's strange to see Kawhi Leonard outside the top 10 - but he chose this path himself (as the last NBA finals showed - he did the right thing). If the forward did not change teams, but remained in San Antonio, then this season his salary would be the same as that of Harden or Durant. But he has a different financial mechanism turned on: better conditions for winning the championship + a large market for new advertising contracts = the opportunity to get much more than the extra 5-6 million a year in the club salary.
Did you really think there was no calculator built into Kawhi's operating system?
P.S. Interestingly, in the top 20 - only Americans, this has not happened since the implementation of the salary cap in 1984! A new generation of super-foreigners, constrained by the financial rules of the NBA, has not yet reached the old American star guard.
King James always wants to be at the top of the list. But he was the most expensive NBA player only once : in the 2016/17 season. Before that, the Miami discount to team up with Wade and Bosch, the move back to Cleveland on a one-year contract, the technical impossibility of reaching Kobe's maximum salary. And then Curry, who has been playing in one club all his career, took the lead - after all, the NBA salary rules reward those stars who do not change clubs: they get a slightly higher maximum salary, a little longer, a little earlier.
But LeBron was always pissed off about the concept of a maximum salary.
Why should workers be capped by some sort of salary cap? Why can't he earn in the NBA as much as she earns on him? According to various statistical metrics, the benefit of LeBron in his peak years should have been paid by a contract of 70-80 million a year 2003, with a completely different salary cap.
Even now, LeBron James's salary would be much more than 37.4 million if there were no artificial restrictions in the NBA. Reference point? Let's take Cristiano Ronaldo. Similar age, status, achievements, popularity, the situation with the transition to another club, even advertising contracts they have about the same level of income. Ronaldo earns about 64 million a year from Juventus before taxes; LeBron, it turns out, almost half as much.
Nevertheless, LeBron will still be the first - in terms of total career earnings . In the upcoming season, he (307 million) will overtake Shaquille (286 million) and will be second only to Kobe Bryant (323 million) and Kevin Garnett (334 million), whom he will overtake in 2021.
LeBron will earn almost $400 million in the NBA by the end of his career - and even more from advertising contracts. The dream of becoming a billionaire is getting closer.
Fans often demand strict logic in issuing maximum contracts. That they should only be given to MVPs or champions, that clubs shouldn't give big contracts to non-All-Star players, that only five/two/ten people/one LeBron/all 510 NBA players are eligible for the top salary.
Actually there is no logic.
The maximum contract, even the largest possible one (35% of the ceiling), can be obtained for real services to the club, like Harden - and still there will be people who consider his salary too high.
You can - for previous achievements. Kevin Durant will make over $38 million in a season without a game for Brooklyn due to a Achilles tear, but the Nets believe he can return to his former superstar level and add championship experience to the team.
Or you can - for vague promises to become a top player in the NBA, as was the case with John Wall.![]()
He sparkled in the second half of the 2016/17 season and made it to the NBA's third All-Star Five, which qualified him for a Supermax contract extension. And "Washington" then gave him this 170 million extension for 4 years, which is effective now.
Since signing, Wall has never played more than 50% of his season and, like Durant, will miss the 2019 season/20 whole. But in 2017, he was a rising star, soon to be the best defenseman in the conference, and was priced into a super max contract...
Or just the Washingtons. A team that hasn't played in an Eastern final for 40 years.
Westbrook and Paul are united not only by the fact that they were traded for each other in July, but also that since 2018 they have an identical salary. They were extended through different mechanisms, but came to the same numbers (although Westbrook has a contract for a year longer).
Why are their salaries higher than the Durant-Harden Wall trio? Again, remember that the maximum salary depends on the ceiling, which grows unevenly .
The annual salary increase is 8%, while the salary cap has increased by only 7.14% in the last year.
Contracts in the NBA, as already mentioned, are not reviewed - neither as a result of negotiations between the parties, nor by any automatic rules, so in a year Westbrook and Paul are entitled to 41 million, in two - 44 million each. And this figure will not change, even if all countries, including the United States, follow the example of China, turn their backs on the NBA, and the salary cap falls from 109million dollars to 109 million cents.
Next year, Durant, Harden, Wall, Paul and Westbrook will break the $40 million salary bar with their supermaxes. But they won't be the first.
Steph Curry won his first MVP and first title, being fourth in salary on his team, and 53rd in the league behind JaVale McGee, Larry Sanders and Andrea Bargnani.
Second MVP - fifth salary with the Warriors and 61st in the NBA, behind Amir Johnson, Demarre Carroll and Brandon Knight.
Second title - Curry is the 82nd highest paid in the NBA, and it's too long to list role players earning more. At the time, Curry's salary of $12 million was closer to the minimum (1.3 million) than the maximum (26.5 million).
Just before the third title, Stef was given the contract he deserved. The largest in history at that time - 201.2 million dollars.
The third season of this contract breaks the historic mark of $40 million. However, taking into account inflation, this is not a record, but only the third most expensive indicator.
Jordan has the first two, of course. His 30 million in 96/97 would be $49 million in today's dollars, and his 33 million in 97/98 would be $54 million.
more than the entire salary cap), we may never see again.
* * *
You can complain that your parents forgot to send you to the basketball section or fed you little carrots, cottage cheese and oatmeal, in the comments.
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Salary: How much does a basketball player earn? | 1xmatch
Content
- NBA and the rest of the world
- Very comfortable salaries in the Euroleague
- France catches up in the top division
A professional basketball player is a dream job for many people. I must say that sport is primarily a passion and entertainment. Who didn't dream of becoming a professional athlete as a child? Probably not many people.
Financially, professional basketball players make good money. From 2,000 to 4,000,000 euros per month, depending on the championship. As with most professions, not everyone is in the same boat. The best earn much more money than the worst. This is logical, even if there are special cases. Employers, namely clubs, always do good and bad things. That is, players are underpaid based on their performance and impact on the field.
Conversely, others are less productive than expected given their wages.
As you have already understood, playing basketball at a professional level is quite profitable. However, a professional basketball career is relatively short. On average, it lasts about ten seasons. An injury or other health problem can ruin an athlete's career. Professional basketball players must save and invest if they no longer want to work after announcing their retirement from the sport. It all depends on the expenses they have incurred and the financial rewards they have accumulated over the years.
The NBA and the rest of the world
The study ranked between them the most profitable championships on a global scale. At the top of the list, of course, we find the NBA. The North American Basketball Championship pays its athletes the best. Throughout the season, the minimum salary of an NBA basketball player is equivalent to the salary of an excellent Euroleague player. Therefore, the NBA attracts the best basketball players in the world.
Superstars are paid tens of millions of euros every year. However, they are all sponsored by some of the most famous manufacturers of sports equipment: Nike, Adidas, Under Armor and Puma. Thus, with an equal salary, a basketball player will prefer the NBA to any other championship.
Very comfortable salaries in the Euroleague
The Euroleague is the second best basketball competition in the world. Every year it brings together the eighteen best teams in Europe. Including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan and Monaco. Many players who have gone through the NBA evolve there. Not all Euroleague teams have the same budgets. The financial impact force differs depending on the teams. Of course, the best basketball players prefer to join the club that will offer them the highest salary. In 2022 ten the highest paid Euroleague basketball players earn from 1 to 5 million euros per year.
France catch up in the top flight
The French top flight has long struggled to attract strong talent.
With a significant increase in the budgets of the LDLC ASVEL and Monaco locomotives, as well as the rise of Paris to the elite, this era is over. French teams can compete sportively and financially with Euroleague formations. At ASM, American Mike James will earn a seven-figure salary between 2021 and 2022. The absolute record of the championship of France.
In the lower divisions financial abundance is far away. Pro B clubs offer comfortable but not enough rewards to then hope to live without a job after 40 years. The average salary is estimated at about 4 euros per month. In general, substitute players receive two to three times less than those who show the best results. The best elements receive just under 500 10 euros per month.
In NM1 headliners reach up to 6 euros per month. Most players are much worse off. A good player in the French third division can expect to earn between 000 and 2500 euros per month. In addition, young players are hired under unreliable contracts.
