30 richest players in the NBA
By John Buhler
Marc Gasol
Center, Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is the first one of the rarities on this list. Gasol has spent his entire nine-year NBA career on the bluffs of the Mississippi River playing for the Memphis professional basketball team. He has earned $105,650,368 while playing exclusively for the Grizzlies in the NBA.
Gasol was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers as the No. 48 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In early January 2008, Gasol was traded to the Grizzlies as part of a package deal involving his older brother Pau Gasol.
Gasol would sign a three-year worth $9.8 million in July 2008. Memphis would extend a qualifying offer in June 2011, tabbing Gasol as a restricted free agent. He would sign a four-year, $57.5 million extension in December 2011. He would play that contract out before signing a gargantuan deal in 2015 unrestricted free agency.
In summer 2015, Gasol inked a huge six-year deal worth $113.2 million, with a player option for 2019-20. Gasol won’t be able to hit free agency again until he is 34 years old. Should he play out the final three years of his most recent Memphis deal, Gasol will stand to make an estimated $178,007,443.
Gasol isn’t the highest paid Grizzly, that would be point guard Mike Conley, nor is he the only Memphis player to make this list. However, it is truly remarkable that a former second-round pick has been able to accumulate this type of wealth while only playing for one team.
Overall, Memphis has several great players, but only one cornerstone of their franchise will likely gain enshrinement in Springfield. Gasol will go down as the greatest of the Grit N’ Grind Grizzlies. He is a fabric of the basketball culture in the Mississippi Delta. Obviously, he’s worth every penny for the Memphis basketball organization.