30 richest players in the NBA
By John Buhler
Tyson Chandler
Center, Phoenix Suns
While he isn’t quite a Basketball Hall of Famer, center Tyson Chandler will likely go down as his generation’s greatest rim protector. He helped bring the Dallas Mavericks its only NBA Championship. Though not quite a Dikembe Mutombo as a shot-blocker, Chandler has been paid like one.
Chandler has made $158,586,645 in earnings during his NBA career. Not too shabby given that he went from high school straight to the pros in 2001. Chandler was the No. 2 overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers but was traded draft night for Elton Brand to the Chicago Bulls. In Chicago, Chandler signed a three-year contract worth $10.7 million as a rookie.
The Bulls would extend the team option for him in his fourth year for $4.8 million. Chandler’s first big contract came in September 2005 when he signed a rookie scale extension worth $64.35 million. Less than a year later, he would be traded to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
Overall, Chandler would be dealt twice more on that contract. He would go to the Charlotte Bobcats in July 2009 and to the Mavericks in July 2010. After winning an NBA Championship in Dallas, Chandler would sign a four-year deal with the Mavericks worth $55.4 million.
He would then be traded to the New York Knicks in December 2011, ultimately being traded back to Dallas in June 2014. Chandler would play out his deal with the Mavericks before hitting free agency in summer 2015. He would sign a four-year deal with the Phoenix Suns worth $52 million.
If Chandler plays out the last two years of this deal with the Suns, he would stand to make roughly $185,671,645. Chandler epitomizes that elite rim protection is and will always be expensive. He’s made a ton of coin without ever being a dominant offensive player.