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How often do basketball players get paid
When and How Do NBA Players Get Paid? (The Truth)
Everyone knows that NBA players make a lot of money. The NBA has some of the highest-paid athletes in the world with an average player salary of $6 million per season.
Players like James Lebron and Kevin Durant are the highest-paid in the league due to their skills and value-added to their team. Steph Curry had a salary of $37 million in the 2018-2019 season, and by the end of the 2021-2022 season, it will be $45 million.
Their lifestyles, big contracts, and even yearly salaries are all easily accessible by anyone with Google. However, as much as people know about what pro athletes get paid, few understand just how they get paid.
Below, I will look at the entire payment process for NBA athletes. That will reveal how all different players get their checks, the reasons the system exists in the way that it does, as well as why they get paid in the way they do.
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How Do NBA Players Get Paid?
Every NBA player, from a max contract superstar to a modest bench player, starts with a salary. Once that occurs, they are guaranteed access to that money thanks to a clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that says they get paid no matter what happens in the regular season.
They receive their money in the form of either checks or direct deposit (based on their preference) and it comes straight from the organization. The current Bargaining Agreement allows for this transaction, which cuts down on any extra confusion.
How Often Do NBA Players Get Paid?
While being an NBA player may not be a job in the most conventional sense, they do get their paychecks like most other jobs in America. That means twice a month, or every two weeks. In that way, they do not get paid on a weekly basis. They typically have to wait for every other.
However, in some special cases, players can receive money in a slightly different way. Sometimes that’s due to external factors, but irregularities mostly occur when a player receives exceptional circumstances pay. That includes things like signing bonuses, loans, or advances.
If a player does get an advance for one reason or another, they can only receive it after July during the season they requested it. Minimum salary players have a cap on how much they can earn in that way.
Related: What Exactly is the NBA Salary Cap?
Do NBA Players Only Get Paid During the Season?
As surprising as it might seem, NBA players do not stop getting paid once the season ends. While it might be intuitive to think they would only receive their money during their time on the court, that could not be further from the truth.
Rather, NBA players continue to get their bi-weekly checks throughout the entire year. It makes much more sense for the organization as a whole because they have more time to secure the money. It also gives the players a more set schedule and knowledge of what to expect.
What Do NBA Players Earn for Playoff Games?
Another factor to consider when it comes to NBA payments, is the playoffs. Obviously, not every team goes to the postseason. As such, playoff games are not added into initial salaries. Rather, the NBA designates a small pool of money that the teams can divvy up among their players.
While the amount is typically small, an extra bonus is always nice. Some players might also have a playoff incentive in their contract, which can cause them to earn a little bit more. In these cases, postseason players get a game-by-game paycheck rather than a standard one.
Do NBA Players Get Signing Bonuses?
Athletes, especially NBA players, have plenty of ways to raise their initial contract. While endorsement deals and extensions both do a good job at that, they are also able to earn more money through signing bonuses.
A signing bonus is a lump sum that an athlete can earn when they first sign their contract. Such a bonus can never be tied to a renegotiation, but it is a key part of many athletes’ deals. It can act as an incentive to join a team or help shore up other parts of the contract.
In the NBA, a signing bonus can be no more than 15 percent of a player’s total contract.
Typically, only big name players get signing bonuses. However, due to the salary cap or external situations, lower level players can collect them from time to time. Rookies with a lot of promise, such as high draft picks, can earn a big bonus too.
How Much Do NBA Players Get Taxed?
Taxes for NBA players, due to the nature of their job, are not straightforward. First, they have to take into account where they live, then they have to take into account the so-called “jock tax” they get from being in the league.
Every player in the NBA pays a federal tax on their salary. If they make the league minimum, they pay in the second-highest tax bracket. If they make more than $1 million, they pay into the highest. They then pay their state taxes based on where they live (not where they play).
After that’s done, everyone in the league is subject to a 3 percent “jock tax” that exists to charge people who earn money in a state but do not live there. Once everything gets tallied up, athletes then get whatever’s left.
FAQs
This section looks at, and answers, some of the largest questions you might have about NBA contracts.
Do NBA Players Get Paid Every Two Weeks?
Yes. As with so many other jobs they get their paychecks bi-weekly on the 1st and the 15th of every month. That stays constant even when the regular season ends.
Do NBA Players Get Paid Hourly?
No. Every player in the league, from max contracts all the way down, gets their money in the exact same way. They earn their salary (and paycheck amount) based on their contract and bonuses.
Do NBA Players Get Paid While Injured?
As long as they got injured in a sports-related way, all NBA players get paid while injured. They have guaranteed contracts, which means they get their money no matter what. In fact, some players have made millions without seeing the court. They may lose some bonuses, however.
Do NBA Players Get Paid If They Don’t Play?
Yes. As mentioned, NBA players always get the guaranteed part of their contracts regardless if they play the games or not. They might not reach some incentives, but they still get their base pay.
Final Words
Figuring out the way NBA players get their money is not as simple or as straightforward as it might seem. Their payment schedules are tricky, the taxes can be tough to discern, and it can be hard to figure out the way incentives, injuries, or bonuses play into everything.
The NBA has an organized system of issuing out payments to players. Players are paid through paychecks and those who are willing to get an advance can negotiate that in their contracts. Signing bonuses are also offered to motivate players to join certain teams. On the 1st day and 15th day of each month, each player gets a certain amount of money according to the terms dictated on their contracts.
Still, once you understand the basics, it’s easy to see how all of the pieces work together. Everything in the NBA is calculated. The way the players receive their payments is yet another example of that.
How do NBA Players get Paid? – Basketball Noise
The NBA is one of the richest and most profitable leagues in the world. With that, comes the enormous daily transactions that are made throughout the association during the regular season and beyond.
The NBA has the highest minimum contracts in American sports, paying each player nearly $1 million per year. In comparison, the MLB (Major League Baseball) and NHL (National Hockey league) have minimum contracts at roughly $500,000, and the NFL (National Football League) comes in at just over $450,000.
Outside of minimum deals, there is no limit on what players can make on a yearly basis. With players collecting such large amounts of money annually, one must wonder how do NBA players Get Paid? NBA Players get paid on the 15th of every month with a majority of NBA players getting direct deposits from their team.
Currently, Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry is the highest paid player in the league, taking home an astounding $40. 2 million in salary per year. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chris Paul is second on that list at $38.5 million, and the top three is rounded out by Houston Rockets’ Russell Westbrook at $38.1 million for a year’s work.
The Salary Process
According to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) since 2017, players receive their pay cheques on the first and 15th of every month. Unfortunately, the bargaining agreement does not stipulate on whether these payments are physical cheques or direct deposits. The CBA also lists the processes of bonuses, escrow and advances, but these are also not specific in the nature for how they are distributed.
Former NBA player Jalen Rose revealed on his podcast that players receive direct deposits for their earnings, but surprisingly, this isn’t the case for all players.
The Variations of Pay
It would be expected that players would have a direct deposit for their salary given the dollar amount, but the process isn’t as straight forward as it seems.
Legally, a direct deposit isn’t a requirement for all states. In states like New York and California, employees (players) must agree to receive their salary via direct deposit.
As most players make multi millions a year, it is anticipated they would have bank accounts to receive these type of payments, but there are a lot of players that prefer to cash their cheques immediately. Some may view this as financially irresponsible, but this is their right by law.
The CBA also discusses the opportunity for advanced cheques.
As currently constructed, the CBA allows players to receive up to 80% of their salary before November 1st, which in typical seasons would be just after the start of the regular season. An example of this was the late great Kobe Bryant, who made headlines as he received a $24.3 million cheque for 80% of his salary in 2013.
It’s important to note that NBA guidelines allow players to receive incredibly large individual cheques if they earn a high enough salary. The NBA also takes steps to ensure players don’t spend their salary all at once, as in addition to the 80% guaranteed salary limit, the league also puts a 50% limit on base salary cheques for the lesser earning players. We put together a video of the most paid players in the NBA.
How often to players get paid?
The frequency of player payments throughout the league varies from situation to situation and player to player.
In general, players are paid on a bi-weekly basis during the regular season. Although it’s believed most are paid this way, players can absolutely negotiate a different payment structure from a procedure standpoint.
From monthly, half yearly or all at once, player’s and their agents have the ability to negotiate a payment structure that suits their lifestyle and financial objectives. Like we’ve established, Bryant agreed quite a unique payment structure to receive 80% of his salary in one lump sum, and ultimately, it is a case by case scenario in the association.
How about Bonuses?
Similar to yearly salary, player bonuses can vary on when they are given out.
The difference, however, is player bonuses are usually dictated on the time in which these agreements are activated.
For example, if a player has a bonus for making an NBA All-Star team, that bonus will likely be paid during All-Star break. If a player has a bonus for making an All-NBA Team, that bonus will usually be paid after the regular season and so on and so forth.
Additionally, if a player has a sign on bonus for joining a franchise, that bonus is usually paid immediately after committing to the organization via any way the player chooses. Like all things, players can of course negotiate how and when these bonuses are paid despite their timing. On the rare occasion, player bonuses can even be agreements outside of monetary value.
Players have become more Financially Intelligent Over Time
It wasn’t that long ago that most players in the NBA were financially inept.
There was no education on personal finance, nor was there any guidance when making financial decisions.
Nowadays however, players have become money savvy and financially educated to maximise their earnings. Smarter investments and researched decision making have become common practice, as players understand the importance of being financially secure beyond their playing days.
Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young tracks his spending and prefers to pay less with fast food than dining at expensive restaurants, Klay Thompson leans on the money mistakes he made as a rookie to drive his decisions now, and ex scoring machine Gilbert Arenas had to live like a college student to avoid debt during his career.
Furthermore, the NBA introduced the “Rookie Transition Program” in 1986, which encourages new players to spend their money wisely. Although rookie contracts are more than most people will make in their lifetime, this program is particularly important considering they are the lowest paid players in the league, and usually have no experience on handling significant amounts of money.
All in all, the NBA make transactions in a variety of ways every single day. With player contracts becoming so diverse across the league, there aren’t many things players can’t do to influence how and when they receive their salary.
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, Towns. 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.
Photo: globallookpress. com/TPG/ZUMAPRESS.com, /Naoki Morita/AFLO; Gettyimages.ru/Sean M. Haffey, /Ezra Shaw, /Al Bello
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.