The highest-paid NBA players by season has recently eclipsed $40 million.
Wilt Chamberlain has the most seasons leading the league with 8.
Michael Jordan holds the largest 1-year contract in NBA history,
LeBron James is the highest career earner and
Stephen Curry is the highest season earner and is also the largest multi-year contract holder in NBA history.
George Mikan became the first player to earn $15,000 per season in the 1948–49 season.
Wilt Chamberlain was the first player to receive $100,000 in the 1965–66 season. The next day,
Bill Russell demanded that he receive $100,001 and it was granted that same season.
Moses Malone &
Bill Walton were the first players to earn $1 Million in a season, they were paid exactly $1,000,000 in the 1979–80 season.
Larry Bird became the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991–92 season.
Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94–95 season with a salary of $14,660,000.
Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95–96 season with a salary of $18,724,000.
Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over $20 million and in fact it exceeded $30 million as well in a season (1996–97) and (1997–98) where he earned $33,140,000, both are the largest 1 year contracts in NBA history; this was a record he had held for more than 30 years, until
Stephen Curry broke his record with $34,682,550 in the 2017–18 season.
Kobe Bryant became just the second player to reach $30 million when the
2013–14 season began.[1]LeBron James became the third in the
2016–17 season.
Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 million per year when he signed a record 5-year contract worth $201 million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017–18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021–22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966, If his contract continues Curry is expected to be the first player to eclipse $50 million in the (2023–24) season.
Damian Lillard will reportedly be the first NBA player to eclipse $60 million in the 2026–27 season, he reportedly signed a contract worth $63,228,828.
Beginning in the
1984–85 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced. The
NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season. However, the NBA uses a "soft" salary cap, which means that significant "salary exceptions" allow NBA teams to exceed their allotted amount in order to sign players. The salary cap is determined during the
offseason, but as stated earlier, it is liable to change.[2]
An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". The
Larry Bird exception, more commonly known as Bird Rights, allows teams to re-sign a current player only if he has played for that particular team for a minimum of three years.[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.[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.[5] Finally, the rookie player exception allows any NBA team to sign their first-round draft pick to a contract based upon a scale previously set forth by the NBA. Another option for teams would be to assign players to a league-assigned minimum salary contract for a maximum of two years.
According to
2010–11 NBA season game performance, the league's best players were not its highest-paid players. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two
All-NBA Teams. Out of those ten players chosen that year,
Kobe Bryant was the only player that was also among the game's ten highest-paid during the 2010–11 NBA season.[6]
The highest-paid NBA players by season has recently eclipsed $40 million.
Wilt Chamberlain has the most seasons leading the league with 8.
Michael Jordan holds the largest 1-year contract in NBA history,
LeBron James is the highest career earner and
Stephen Curry is the highest season earner and is also the largest multi-year contract holder in NBA history.
George Mikan became the first player to earn $15,000 per season in the 1948–49 season.
Wilt Chamberlain was the first player to receive $100,000 in the 1965–66 season. The next day,
Bill Russell demanded that he receive $100,001 and it was granted that same season.
Moses Malone &
Bill Walton were the first players to earn $1 Million in a season, they were paid exactly $1,000,000 in the 1979–80 season.
Larry Bird became the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991–92 season.
Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94–95 season with a salary of $14,660,000.
Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95–96 season with a salary of $18,724,000.
Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over $20 million and in fact it exceeded $30 million as well in a season (1996–97) and (1997–98) where he earned $33,140,000, both are the largest 1 year contracts in NBA history; this was a record he had held for more than 30 years, until
Stephen Curry broke his record with $34,682,550 in the 2017–18 season.
Kobe Bryant became just the second player to reach $30 million when the
2013–14 season began.[1]LeBron James became the third in the
2016–17 season.
Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 million per year when he signed a record 5-year contract worth $201 million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017–18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021–22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966, If his contract continues Curry is expected to be the first player to eclipse $50 million in the (2023–24) season.
Damian Lillard will reportedly be the first NBA player to eclipse $60 million in the 2026–27 season, he reportedly signed a contract worth $63,228,828.
Beginning in the
1984–85 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced. The
NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season. However, the NBA uses a "soft" salary cap, which means that significant "salary exceptions" allow NBA teams to exceed their allotted amount in order to sign players. The salary cap is determined during the
offseason, but as stated earlier, it is liable to change.[2]
An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". The
Larry Bird exception, more commonly known as Bird Rights, allows teams to re-sign a current player only if he has played for that particular team for a minimum of three years.[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.[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.[5] Finally, the rookie player exception allows any NBA team to sign their first-round draft pick to a contract based upon a scale previously set forth by the NBA. Another option for teams would be to assign players to a league-assigned minimum salary contract for a maximum of two years.
According to
2010–11 NBA season game performance, the league's best players were not its highest-paid players. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two
All-NBA Teams. Out of those ten players chosen that year,
Kobe Bryant was the only player that was also among the game's ten highest-paid during the 2010–11 NBA season.[6]