With superstars like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett retiring, let’s take a look at who are the 30 richest players that are active in the NBA.
Since former commissioner David Stern made the NBA a player-driven league back in the mid-1980s, the NBA has seen many of its star players procure a great amount of wealth as multi-millionaires.
The NBA grew in popularity in the 1990s. Once the league adjusted to rampant expansion, the television product got significantly better, therefore driving up the price of broadcasting contracts. Star players were paid like never before.
With the retirements of long-time NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, there is a new crop of highest earners in the NBA. Let’s take a look at the 30 richest active players in the NBA.
The list reflects the NBA player earnings, according to Spotrac.com.
The sixth man for the Los Angeles Clippers has been a reliable jump-shooter coming off an NBA bench for some time. The guy loves to play basketball, as he is very good at it. His smooth shooting stroke has allowed him to age gracefully in the NBA. It has also made him a very wealthy man.
Crawford has made $102,328,889 in 17 NBA seasons. He was the former No. 8 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers before being immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls in 2000. Crawford played four years with the Bulls before getting a slightly pay bump on a sign-and-trade with the New York Knicks in 2004. He would sign a seven-year deal worth $55.44 million that summer.
Crawford would play out four years of that deal with the Knicks before being traded to the Golden State Warriors in November 2008. He would be traded in June 2009 to the Atlanta Hawks, voided the early termination clause in his seven-year contract to play out the final two years of it in Atlanta.
While with the Hawks, Crawford reinvented himself as a sixth man, helping the Hawks make the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Crawford would sign a two-year deal worth $10.225 million with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2011 free agency. He would opt out of the second year of his deal to become an unrestricted free agent in 2012, ultimately signing a four-year deal worth $21.35 million with the Clippers.
With Los Angeles, Crawford found stability in a well-defined role on a perennial playoff contender. That would help him sign a three-year deal worth $42 million in 2016 free agency. Though he is 36-years old, Crawford is poised to play out the final two years of his Clippers contract to earn an estimated $131,075,887 by the time he hits free agency in summer 2019.
Overall, Crawford was able to pivot in his NBA career from a ball-hog starter on losing Bulls and Knicks teams to a reliable sixth man with the Hawks and Clippers. Few shooting guards can create their own shot as well off the dribble in isolation quite like Crawford has for 17 years. Longevity and dependability have certainly made him one of the 30 richest players in the NBA today.
Though he has only been in the NBA for nine seasons, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is well on his way to becoming one of the richest players in NBA history. The 28-year-old point guard out of UCLA has earned an estimated $102,723,800 through the 2016-17 NBA season.
Westbrook was the No. 4 pick by the then-Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA Draft. He would sign a two-year deal worth $7.25 million with a team option for 2010-11 and 2011-12. Oklahoma City would obviously exercise those two teams options, paying him $4 million and $5.08 million, respectively in those two seasons.
Westbrook would sign the five-year rookie scale max in January 2012 worth $78.6 million. In August 2016, Westbrook would sign a three-year contract extension with the Thunder worth $85,591,823.
Built into his latest deal with the Thunder is a player option for 2018-19. Westbrook can either opt in and make $30,521,115 in 2018-18 or he can hit unrestricted free agency in summer 2018 to see if he can’t make a little more.
Though he has been loyal to the Thunder through his NBA career, it is advantageous for him to opt out and see if he can’t use the threat of signing elsewhere as leverage in negotiating a fourth contract with the Thunder.
From the looks of it, Westbrook silenced the doubters when he first came into the league. He tore it up in his first four NBA seasons, setting himself to be a very wealthy man before he exits his prime sometime in his 30s. Should he play out his three-year deal with the Thunder, Westbrook stands to make roughly $161,775,523 before his 31st birthday.
One guy that has played for a very long time in the NBA, having been able to grow and adapt with the game is Bucks guard Jason Terry. In his 17th NBA season with his sixth NBA franchise, Terry has made $104,709,059 as a basketball professional.
Terry was the former No. 10 pick by the Atlanta Hawks out of Arizona in the 1999 NBA Draft. He signed a three-year deal worth $4.7 million in 1999, a humble amount for a guy that would one day earn over $100 million in his professional career.
Atlanta would exercise its 2002-03 team option with Terry, worth $2.15 million. Terry would hit restricted free agency that summer, signing an offer sheet with the Utah Jazz. However, he was retained by the Hawks, signing a three-year deal worth $22.5 million in October 2003.
Terry wouldn’t finish the calendar year in Atlanta, as he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in August 2004. Dallas is the place where Terry made the bulk of his NBA earnings. In July 2006, Terry would sign a six-year deal worth $57 million. Terry would win an NBA Championship with the 2010-11 Mavericks.
In 2012 free agency, Terry would sign a three-year deal with the Boston Celtics worth $15.675 million. He would be traded three times before that contract ran its course. Terry was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in July 2013, the Sacramento Kings in February 2014, and the Houston Rockets in September 2014.
He signed a one-year deal with the Rockets worth $1.5 million. Houston would renounce his rights in summer 2016. Terry would sign with the Bucks on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million. Overall, Terry was a strong player for the Hawks and Mavericks. His veteran presence off the bench in his 30s has helped make him one of the richest players of his generation.
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.
This one might shock you, but yes, Richard Jefferson is the 26th richest player in basketball. The 36-year-old rotational small forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers has earned an estimated $110,243,869. If he plays out the last two years of his Cavaliers deal, Jefferson will make a projected $115,356,3609 before calling it a career.
Jefferson is a 16-year NBA veteran, now on his seventh NBA team in Cleveland. While he faded into relative obscurity for most of this decade, people tend to forget that he was an All-Star for a really good Brooklyn Nets team that went to two NBA Finals in his early 20s.
Jefferson was drafted No. 13 overall by the Houston Rockets in 2001 and traded to the Nets. He signed a three-year, $4.4 deal with New Jersey in July 2001. The Nets would exercise their team option for 2003-04, offering him $2.27 million for that season. In August 2004, Jefferson would sign a six-year $78 million rookie scale extension.
He would play four seasons of that in New Jersey. Jefferson would be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2008 and the San Antoni Spurs in 2009. In July 2010, Jefferson would terminate his deal a year early to re-up with San Antonio on a four-year deal worth $39 million. San Antonio would trade him to the Golden State Warriors in March 2012, where he exercised his player option in 2013.
Golden State didn’t like that and quickly traded him to the Utah Jazz. Utah would renounce his rights in July 2014 and Jefferson would go on to sign a one-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks worth $1.45 million. Jefferson would sign a one-year deal with Cleveland in 2015 worth $1.5 million.
As part of the 2016 NBA Championship team, Jefferson was able to turn that into a three-year deal worth $7.6 million. While it is not guaranteed beyond 2018, Jefferson has made a career of getting paid long after he peaked as young 20-year-old with the Nets.
There was a time where Derrick Rose was an MVP caliber player. He was a force to be reckoned with coming out of Memphis with the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Rose was as explosive of an offensive playmaker at point guard in his first few seasons with the Chicago Bulls pre-knee injuries.
It’s part of the reason that he has made a fortune playing basketball before his 30th birthday. Rose has made $115,496,902 in nine NBA seasons, eight with Bulls and one with the New York Knicks. All of his NBA money to date has been negotiated while he was a member of the Bulls.
Rose initially signed a two-year deal worth $10 million out of college. The contract had a built-in two-year team option. Chicago obviously extended the team options both years, $5.5 million for 2010-11 and $6.99 million in 2011-12.
Rose would sign a five-year, rookie max extension worth $94.3 million. Then that is when Rose’s NBA career took a turn for the worse and Chicago paid the ultimate price. The Rose Chicago paid for in December 2011 would be ravaged by knee injury after knee injury. Rose lost his ability to play triumphantly above the rim. The Bulls would trade him in summer 2016 to his current employer in the Knicks.
New York agreed to take on the remaining $21,232,252 of Rose’s contract originally signed with the Bulls. Rose will hit unrestricted free agency this summer, but he will make nowhere the type of money he did in his early 20s.
Though he is only 27-years old, Rose is rapidly losing his grip on the league he once had eating out the palm of his hand. He’s a serviceable point guard at this stage of his career. While he didn’t live up to lofty expectations with the Bulls, he has made a fortune of his once-impressive basketball talents.
One player that has been able to negotiate sizable second and third contracts in the NBA is Sacramento Kings small forward Rudy Gay. The 30-year-old, 10-year NBA veteran has been able to $115,619,870 during his so-so NBA career.
Since coming into the league in the 2006 NBA Draft, Gay has almost always been a good player on a bad team. He was traded draft night to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he played his first six NBA seasons.
Gay would sign a two-year, $4.65 million deal out of Connecticut. Memphis would extend its team option in both 2007 and 2008 for $2.6 and $3.28 million, respectively. The Grizzlies made him a qualifying offer during his fourth year in the league, tabbing him as a restricted free agent.
In summer 2010, Gay would make the bulk of his money with a five-year deal worth $82.3 million. Gay would twice be traded on this contract in 2013. He would leave Memphis for the Toronto Raptors in January 2013 and would move again to the Kings in December of that year.
Gay would exercise his 2014 player option worth $19.3 million with the Kings. In November 2014, Gay would sign a three-year veteran extension worth $40 million. While he was probably going to opt out of his deal this summer, look for Gay to stick with the Kings to make that $14.2 million in Sacramento. This has to do with him rupturing his Achilles’ more than anything.
Overall, Gay has prioritized making money on bad teams that winning basketball games. His track record has shown that he doesn’t walk away from the money that is being given to him. If he opts into the final year of Kings contract, Gay will stand to have made $129,883,436 in 11 NBA seasons.
This list of highest-earning NBA players is definitely chock full of former No. 1 overall picks. One of the highest career earners in the NBA is the former No. 1 overall pick out of Utah in the 2005 NBA Draft in Dallas Mavericks center Andrew Bogut. In 11 NBA seasons, Bogut has made $115,750,847.
Bogut came into the league as a franchise cornerstone with the Milwaukee Bucks. He signed a two-year, $9 million contract as a rookie. Milwaukee exercised its team option on Bogut for his third and fourth NBA seasons, costing the Bucks $4.99 and $6.3 million, respectively.
In July 2008, Bogut signed his rookie extension, inking a five-year, $60 million with the Bucks. Bogut was worth that bit of coin, that was until he mangled his hand on a transition dunk in 2010. He lost his ability to shoot at an NBA level and was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2012.
Re-inventing himself as a pass-first center and elite rim protector with the Warriors, Bogut signed a three-year extension worth $36 million. Before the final year of his Warriors contract, Golden State would trade Bogut to Dallas to help make room to sign Kevin Durant in 2016 free agency.
Bogut is 32-years old and may not be the player he once was, but he does have a role in this league into his mid-30s if he feels so inclined. Expect Bogut to get another multi-year deal in 2017 free agency, but not to the degree of what he made with the Bucks and Warriors.
Overall, Bogut has had staying power in the NBA despite a largely injury-riddled career. Even as a non-shooter, Bogut has proven to be a technically sound player that can contribute as a great glue guy in a championship team’s frontcourt. While we wonder what could have been with Bogut, he’s still been a highly productive player, though not fully worth the nine figures he has made as a professional.
Few players in the NBA know how to get paid on a declining skill set to the degree of Los Angeles Lakers small forward Luol Deng. 12-year NBA veteran has made a killing in free agency, now on his fourth team in Los Angeles. Deng has made $117,118,719 thus far in his NBA career.
After playing one year at Duke, Deng was drafted No. 7 overall in the 2004 NBA Draft. He spent the first nine NBA seasons with the Chicago Bulls. Deng signed a three-year rookie contract worth $7.33 million with the Bulls in 2004. Chicago would offer a team option for a fourth year in 2006, worth $3.32 million.
In restricted free agency, Deng would sign his first big NBA contract: six years worth $71 million. Though Deng was an All-Star level player for the Bulls, he began to rapidly decay physically thanks to playing ultra-aggressive defense under former head coach Tom Thibodeau. Deng was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 2014. Cleveland would later renounce his rights and he would be an unrestricted free agent that summer.
Deng would sign a two-year deal worth $19.87 million with a player option for 2015-16. He would exercise that player option to the tune of $10.15 million. Then, things got crazy during 2016 free agency.
Deng would sign a ridiculous four-year deal worth $72 million with the Lakers, all of which is guaranteed. By the end of the 2019-20 NBA season, Deng will have made roughly $171,118,119 before he exits his mid-30s.
What seems to have happened with Deng is that he came into the league very young and at the right time. When he was up for contracts, he was in the first class to reap the benefits of the new collective bargaining agreement. There is a chance he could end up making over $200 million in NBA salary before retiring in his late 30s.
For a near-Hall of Fame level player, one would expect that a guy like Andre Iguodala would have made some sweet money along the way. Iguodala went from an All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers to a sixth man for the championship-contending Golden State Warriors. In his 13 NBA seasons out of Arizona, Iguodala has made $118,683,918 in career earnings.
Iguodala came into the league as the No. 9 overall pick by the 76ers in the 2004 NBA Draft. He signed a three-year deal worth $6.17 million out of Arizona. Philadelphia would exercise its player option for 2007-08 by offering him 2.8 million for that season back in 2006.
The 76ers marked him as a restricted free agent by putting out a qualifying offer. Iguodala would get his first massive NBA pay day by inking a six-year, $80.5 million extension with the 76ers in August 2008. Then something called The Process began in summer 2012. Iguodala was traded to the Denver Nuggets in August 2012.
He would play one year with Denver before terminating his deal two years early. Iguodala would go to the Warriors on a sign-and-trade with the Nuggets in July 2013. It was a four-year deal with $48 million.
Iguodala will again be hitting free agency this summer. He has been able to pivot as an NBA player, going from the star player on a middle of pack Eastern Conference team to a sixth man on a dynasty level team.
Has Iguodala exited his prime? Probably, but there was about a 10-year window where Iguodala was at worst a top-35 player in the NBA. His on-court success translated to winning. He is a borderline Hall of Famer, but he can always say that he is a champion and a well-paid one at that.
In his 13-year NBA career, center Al Jefferson is the master of spending three years with a team, getting paid, and then going somewhere else. The former No. 15 pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2004 NBA Draft has made a staggering $120,017,757 in his professional career.
Jefferson’s first deal was with the Celtics back in 2004 when he signed a three-year deal worth $4.5 million. Boston would exercise his team option for a fourth year worth $2.48 million in 2006. In summer 2007, Jefferson was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves where he would get his first big payday later that fall. Jefferson inked a fat five-year rookie extension worth $65 million.
In July 2010, Jefferson was traded from Minnesota to the Utah Jazz. He would play the next three seasons in Salt Lake City. Utah would later renounce his rights in July 2013, making him an unrestricted free agent July has been kind to Jefferson in terms of getting paid. He would then sign a three-year deal with the then Charlotte Bobcats worth $41 million.
After two years with the Bobcats/Hornets, Jefferson would exercise his player option for 2015-16 worth $13.5 million. Once that deal was paid out, Jefferson would hit free for a second time. He would garner a three-year deal worth $30 million with the Indiana Pacers in summer 2016.
Should Jefferson be able to play out his current three-year deal with the Pacers, he would stand to make roughly $139,787,578 before departing Indianapolis in his mid-30s. However, only $4 million of his 2018 money is guaranteed.
Overall, Jefferson has been an important near-All-Star level center throughout his NBA career. Teams like his ability to post-up and get buckets in the paint to help bring mediocre offensive teams along. However, his lumbering frame and lack of range as a shooter have not translated into staying power for many than three years with any team.
One would expect a 15-year veteran having spent his entire NBA career with one team to have made a bit of coin. Manu Ginobili has put together a no-doubt hall of fame career as the sixth man for the San Antonio Spurs. In a decade and a half in San Antonio, the Argentinian national has made $122,506,730.
Originally drafted by the Spurs late in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft, it would take three years for Ginobili to come state-side. Arriving in San Antonio in 2002, Ginobili would sign a two-year contract with the Spurs worth $2.782 million. In July 2004, Ginobili would receive his first big payday in the NBA. He would sign a six-year extension worth $52 million.
Ginobili would play out all six years of that deal with the Spurs before signing his next big contract. In April 2010, Ginobili inked a three-year veteran extension worth $38.9 million. Ginobili signed a two-year deal worth $14.5 million in July 2013.
Then in summer 2015, in an effort to conserve cap space, the Spurs would renounce Ginobili’s free agent exemption rights before signing yet another contract with the Spurs. His fourth contract with San Antonio would be a two-year deal worth $5.75 with a player option for 2016-17.
Strangely, Ginobili actually opted out of his deal with the Spurs to become an unrestricted free agent in 2016. While the Philadelphia 76ers had an interest in him on the open market, Ginobili’s heart was always in San Antonio. He signed a one-year deal worth $14 million in July 2016.
Being the perennial team player, Ginobili had to sacrifice pay in his 30s to play a huge role with a championship contender. While $14 million for a 39-year-old shooting guard coming off the bench is a ton of money, few have been a better shining example of what it means to be a sixth man quite like what Ginobili has been for the Spurs.
Here is a strange one. Yes, Houston Rockets center Nene has made the 18th most money in his NBA career of any active NBA players. The Brazilian center was drafted No. 7 overall by the New York Knicks in the 2002 NBA Draft and has made a whopping $123,109,944.
Nene’s draft rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets, where he spent most of the next decade making a killing as a so-so center. He signed a three-year, $6.3 million rookie deal with the Nuggets in July 2002. Nene would receive a qualifying offer in 2006, making him a restricted free agent.
Then things got interesting in how Nene made most of his wealth in Denver. In 2006 free agency, he would sign a six-year, $60 million deal with the Nuggets. He would play out five of those six years for the Nuggets. Then the Nuggets lost their minds in summer 2011.
Nene would terminate the last year of his deal with the Nuggets in June 2011 to sign a whopping five-year contract with the Nuggets worth $67 million. Denver had almost immediate buyer’s remorse, shipping him to the Washington Wizards in a January 2012 trade.
Washington would be on the hook for the bulk of that massive salary. The Wizards would renounce his rights in summer 2016. Nene hit unrestricted free agency to sign a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets for $2.9 million.
Denver not having a clue what it was doing in 2011-12 helped make Nene a very wealthy man. Washington paid over $60 million for a player under contract it didn’t even negotiate. That has to be one of the strangest salary dumps one will ever see.
LaMarcus Aldridge was the biggest name to hit unrestricted free agency in summer 2015. He opted to leave the Portland Trail Blazers to play in his native Texas for the San Antonio Spurs. His new deal with the Spurs has helped him land $124,932,863 worth of NBA salary to date.
Aldridge began his NBA career as the No. 2 pick by the Chicago Bulls out of Texas in the 2006 NBA Draft. He was traded draft night to the Trail Blazers, where he played his first nine NBA seasons. Out of college, Aldridge negotiated a two-year, $8.36 million contract.
Portland naturally extended its team options on Aldridge the next two season at $4.6 and $5.84 million. In October 2009, Aldridge agreed to a five-year, $67.5 million rookie extension with the Trail Blazers. He would play that out before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2015.
That would be the first time that it could financially make sense for Aldridge to leave the Pacific Northwest. Portland was in the mix to retain him, but the two teams that it came down to for him were the Phoenix Suns and the Spurs. Aldridge would sign a four-year deal worth $84.1 million to sign with the Spurs in July 2015.
Aldridge is under contract through the 2018-19 NBA season with a player option for 2018. Should he opt into the fourth year of this Spurs deal, Aldridge would stand to make $168,740,888 of salary before hitting free agency again at 34 years old.
At his peak, Aldridge was a top 15-25 player in the NBA, certainly a perennial All-Star and All-NBA selection. Being that he was the best free agent in summer 2015, he earned every penny he got. It will be more worthwhile if he helps the Spurs win a sixth NBA title.
It was only a matter of time before superstar small forward for the Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant would make an appearance on this list. While he has only been in the NBA for 10 seasons, he is already the 16th highest paid active player in terms of career earnings with $132,183,333.
Durant was the No.2 overall pick by the then Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Texas. He would sign a two-year deal worth $8.65 million. The Oklahoma City Thunder would wisely pay Durant the team options for his third and fourth NBA seasons, costing the Thunder $4.8 million and $6 million, respectively.
Durant would strike his first big payday in October 2009, where he would sign a five-year maximum rookie scale extension worth $89 million. After nine years with the SuperSonics/Thunder, Durant would leave Oklahoma City on a controversial deal to land with Golden State.
On the Fourth of July 2016, Durant signed a two-year max with the Warriors for $54.3 million. He has a player option built into his Warriors contract. Should he take the player option, Durant stands to make roughly $159,917,738 before hitting free agency in summer 2018.
Durant is only 28 years old and very much in the midst of his prime as a basketball player. He will likely go down as one of the highest paid players in NBA history before he calls it a career.
Leaving Oklahoma City may have cost him some money and security in the long-run, but Durant is set up to win a championship this year and maybe next if he opts into the second year of his contract with the Warriors. If not, he’ll be the most coveted player in free agency again this summer.
Though he has rapidly declined over the last few years as a starting point guard, it isn’t much of a surprise that Deron Williams of the Dallas Mavericks comes in at No. 15 as one of the richest active players in the NBA. In his 12-year NBA career, Williams has earned $142,651,267.
Williams came into the league as the No. 3 overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2005 NBA Draft. He signed a two-year deal worth $7.24 million out of Illinois. Utah would then offer its team options on him the next two seasons, worth $4.01 and $5.2 million, respectively.
In July 2008, Williams would get his first big NBA contract. He would ink a four-year $70 million extension with the Jazz. Williams would play out the first two and a half years of that deal with the Jazz before being traded to the then-New Jersey Nets.
In June 2012, Williams would opt out of the final year of his contract with the Nets to hit unrestricted free agency. A month later, Williams would sign a new five-year deal worth $98.77 million. Not long after signing the multi-year extension with the Nets, Williams’ health and overall skill set would start to decline.
He would eventually be waived by the Nets in summer 2015, getting a $27.5 million buyout. Later that week, Williams would sign a two-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks worth $11 million. He would opt out of the second year of that deal to ultimately sign a one-year deal with the Mavericks worth $10 million.
Overall, Williams has certainly gotten the most out of his basketball abilities. Most of his wealth came from the rookie extension with the Jazz and the incompetency of the Nets organization. If he stayed healthy, Williams could have been an amazing player. He had all-time talent and definitely cashed in on it.
Tony Parker has spent his entire 16-year NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs organization. He has had multiple contracts with the Spurs, but never really considered leaving San Antonio in free agency. As a result, he has made a whopping $145,390,310 in NBA salary.
Parker was drafted No. 28 overall by the Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft out of France. He would sign a three-year deal worth $2.4 million as a rookie in 2001. San Antonio would obviously exercise its team option on Parker for 2004-05, costing the Spurs only $1.54 million.
In November 2004, Parker would agree to his rookie extension with San Antonio. It would be six years for $66 million. Parker would play four of those six years under that pay grade before getting a raise in 2008. He would agree to a four-year veteran extension worth $50 million.
It was the right call to amp up Parker’s pay, as he was in his prime as a professional around that time. He would play out all six years of that contract before inking his third big extension with the Spurs in summer 2014.
Parker and the Spurs would sign off on a three-year, $43.3 million extension that would run through 2017-18. Should Parker play through that final third year of the contract, he would stand to make roughly $160,843,436 of salary before hitting free agency in summer 2018.
While he is past his prime as a starting point guard, Parker has maybe one more multi-year deal with the Spurs after his current contract expires. He’s 34 and if he plays until he’s 38 or so, Parker will have made close to $200 million of NBA salary. For a future Hall of Famer, he’s been worth it.
Chris Paul will go down as the greatest point guard of the greatest generation of point guards. There are other point guards that are better as scorers, but Paul is the best all-around. It is not surprising that he has been paid handsomely over the years, earning $158,226,325.
Paul was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft out of Wake Forest by the then New Orleans Hornets, where he would spend his first six NBA seasons. Out of college, Paul would sign a two-year deal worth $6.52 million. New Orleans would exercise its team options with Paul twice for $3.615 and $4.5 million.
His first big pay day would come in July 2008 when New Orleans would give him the four-year rookie scale extension worth $63.6 million. In a seismic, blockbuster trade, Paul was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers in December 2011. He then exercised his player option for $17.8 million for 2012-13 as part of the deal.
Paul signed his next big contract in summer 2013, inking a five-year max with the Clippers worth $107. 3 million. He is now in the fourth year of his five-year deal with the Clippers. Paul can opt out of his contract this summer, as he probably will.
Should he opt in for whatever reason, Paul will have made roughly $182,492,284 in NBA salary before summer 2018. At 31 years old, Paul stands to make well over $200 million before he hits 35 years of age and likely exits his prime.
On paper, Paul has done it all, but win an NBA Championship. He has yet to make an appearance in a conference final. Paul could re-up with the Clippers, this summer or next. However, do expect him to consider other options he may find an easier path to winning an NBA Championship.
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.
Without Vince Carter, there is a great chance Canada doesn’t have an NBA team anymore. In his prime, Carter was the Dominique Wilkins of his era, the best above-the-rim small forward in basketball. It’s no surprise that the 40-year-old hooper has made $159,087,631 in his NBA career.
Carter was the No. 5 overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft out of North Carolina by the Golden State Warriors. His draft rights were traded to the Toronto Raptors, where Carter would become a superstar for the next 5.5 years. Carter would ink a three-year rookie deal worth $6.45 million. Toronto would exercise its team options Carter for a fourth year, costing the Raptors $3 million for 2001-02.
In August 2001, Carter signed a six-year rookie scale extension worth $85 million. He was traded to the then-New Jersey Nets in December 2004. In June 2007, he terminated his deal with the Nets a year early, going on to sign a four-year, $61.6 million extension.
Carter was traded twice on that contract. First, he went to the Orlando Magic in June 2009. Then, Carter wound up with the Phoenix Suns in December 2010. Phoenix negotiated a buyout for $4 million before waiving him a year later.
Carter then went on to sign a pair of three-year deals with two different franchises in the Southwest Division. He first signed with the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year deal worth $9.27 million in 2011. Then, Carter landed a three-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies worth $12 million in 2014.
This could be Carter’s last NBA season. He has had tremendous staying power in the NBA due to his ability to adapt from a dunk machine to a sharp-shooter from three. Carter is a culturally significant basketball player and is a lock for Springfield enshrinement.
Zach Randolph is an important player for the Grit N’ Grind era of the Memphis Grizzlies. He has been in the league for 15 seasons, making two All-Star teams with the Grizzlies. Randolph is beloved in Memphis, but it is strange to see him as the 10th richest active NBA player.
For whatever reason, people tend to forget that Randolph has been in the league since 2001 and is 35 years old. The former standout for the Michigan State Spartans has made $172,597,245 in NBA salary.
Randolph signed a three-year rookie deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2001, worth $3.29 million. Portland would exercise its player option on Randolph for a fourth season, costing the Trail Blazers $1.5 million. Randolph would garner his first big payday in November 2004, signing a six-year rookie extension with the Trail Blazers worth $84.3 million.
Before that six-year contract expired, Randolph would be traded three times. First, he went to the New York Knicks in June 2007. Randolph would then go to the Los Angeles Clippers in November 2008. In 2009, he would find his most recent home with the Grizzlies.
Randolph would agree to a four-year veteran extension with the Grizzlies in 2011. He would opt-in for the final year of his contract, making $16.5 million for 2014-15 in June 2014. That same day, Randolph would ink a two-year extension with the Grizzlies that would run through the 2016-17 NBA season, earning him an additional $20 million on a two-year deal.
From his early beginnings as a bit of a head case with the Jail Blazers in the early 2000s, Randolph has successfully pivoted as an NBA professional basketball player. His adopted home of Memphis has helped make him one of the richest players in the NBA today.
It’s no surprise that the greatest player in the history of the Miami Heat would make a crack inside the top 10 of the richest active NBA players. Unfortunately for the Heat, Dwyane Wade doesn’t play for the Heat anymore. Regardless, Wade has made $176,115,934 in career earnings.
Wade came into the league as the No. 5 overall pick in the famous 2003 NBA Draft out of Marquette. He would sign a three-year rookie contract before the 2003-04 NBA season worth $8.5 million.
Miami would exercise its team option for the 2006-07 season by paying Wade an additional $3.8 million. Wade would find pay dirt by signing a rookie scale extension in 2006, a three-year deal worth $43.2 million.
He would hit free agency in summer 2010 and become a very wealthy man. Wade would sign a six-year deal worth $107.2 million. In June 2014, Wade would terminate his contract early and sign a new deal with the Heat: a two-year deal, worth $31.25 million with a player option for the second season.
Wade would decline his player option for the second year to hit unrestricted free agency last summer. Shocking many in South Florida, Wade would agree to a two-year, $47 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. If he exercises his player option with the Bulls for 2017-18, Wade will have made $199,915,934 in career earnings before hitting 2018 NBA free agency.
Overall, Wade will likely go down as a top-25 player all-time in the NBA when he does retire. While he held back earning potential in his prime, he has certainly made up for it in recent years with his last few basketball contracts.
He’s been in the league for a long time and will go down as one of the very best international players all-time. Pau Gasol is now on his fourth NBA team with the San Antonio Spurs, chasing his third NBA title. At 36 years old, the 16-year NBA veteran has made $182,999,615 in career earnings.
Gasol was the No. 3 overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA draft, traded immediately to the then-Vancouver Grizzlies. He signed a three-year deal worth $8.78 with the recently relocated Memphis Grizzlies. Gasol would make another $4.3 million via a team option for his fourth year in the league.
In September 2004, Gasol would ink a six-year, $86.5 million rookie extension with Memphis. Gasol would be traded in a blockbuster deal to the Los Angeles Laker for his younger brother Marc Gasol in February 2008. In December 2009, Gasol would sign a three-year extension with the Lakers worth $57 million.
Gasol would play out those three seasons with the Lakers before hitting unrestricted free agency in summer 2014. He would go on to sign a three-year contract worth $22.3 million with the Chicago Bulls. Gasol would play two years with the Bulls before opting out of his deal.
In summer 2016, Gasol would enter unrestricted free agency to sign a two-year deal with the Spurs worth $31.7 million. Should Gasol play out the second year of his contract with the Spurs, he would stand to make $199,197,115 before hitting free agency a third time as a 37-year-old.
Overall, Gasol will make over $200 million before he retires from the NBA. He was a building block for two franchises in Memphis and Los Angeles. While he didn’t win a title in Chicago, Gasol earned every penny of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
One of the highest paid active players is also one of the most enigmatic. Center Dwight Howard came into the league out of high school and became the No. 1 overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 2004. In 13 NBA seasons to date, Howard has already made $186,735,761 in career salary.
Howard signed a three-year rookie contract with Orlando in 2004 worth $13.5 million. Orlando would exercise its team option for the fourth year of Howard, costing the Magic $6.06 million for the 2007-08 NBA season. In July 2007, Howard would agree to a five-year rookie extension worth $83.2 million.
Howard would force a trade out of Orlando to the Los Angeles Lakers in summer 2012. He would spend only the 2012-13 NBA season in Los Angeles. Howard would terminate his contract a year early to sign with the Houston Rockets in unrestricted free agency in summer 2013.
Houston would give Howard a four-year max contract worth $87.5 million. After three years with the Rockets, Howard would opt out of his contract to test free agency again in summer 2016. A frustrating end to his time in Houston left Howard with few suitors last summer.
However, Howard was able to sign a three-year $70.5 million deal with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. Howard will be under contract with Atlanta through the 2018-19 NBA season. Should he play out both remaining years of his Hawks deal, Howard will stand to make roughly $234,055,486.
Howard’s first year in Atlanta has gone over quite smoothly. He seems to be embracing his role as a defense-first player that goes up for lobs on offense. While he may not ever win a championship in his NBA career, his tenure with the Magic might be good enough to get him to Springfield.
While scary health issues may have resulted in us seeing the last of him as a professional basketball player, Miami Heat center Chris Bosh will one day be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. He has made $186,936,512 in career earnings in 13 NBA seasons.
Miami reportedly plans to waive Bosh in a few weeks due to his health issues with blood clots the last few seasons. Bosh is only 32 years old and may have to end his Hall of Fame-worthy NBA career a bit prematurely.
He came into the league in the often-celebrated 2003 NBA Draft class. Bosh was the No. 4 pick by the Toronto Raptors out of Georgia Tech. He would sign a three-year $9.3 million rookie contract with the Raptors. Toronto would exercise its team option on Bosh for the 2006-07 season, costing Toronto $4.23 million.
In July 2006, Bosh would sign a three-year rookie extension worth $42.6 million, beginning in the 2007-08 NBA season. Once that extension ran its course, Bosh would orchestrate a sign-and-trade with the Heat in summer 2010.
Bosh would sign a six-year contract with the Heat worth $110 million. In July 2014, Bosh would exercise his early termination option. He would sign a new, five-year deal worth $118 million that summer.
Bosh would not be a free agent until summer 2019 under this current deal, making, in theory, $239,063,622 before striking a new deal. Miami will likely cut ties with Bosh here soon, but he’s a two-time champion and a multimillionaire in his great NBA career.
The Truth is, well, we already know what the truth is. Small forward Paul Pierce will go down as one of the greatest players in Boston Celtics franchise history. While he has bounced around in recent years, Pierce has made a ton of cash in his NBA career, earning $194,035,952.
Pierce is in his 19th and final NBA season out of Kansas. He went No. 10 overall to the Celtics in the 1998 NBA Draft. Pierce would sign a four-year rookie deal worth $6.3 million in the strike-shortened 1998-98 NBA season. The Celtics would wisely exercise their team option on Pierce for the 2001-02 NBA season, costing them $2.05 million.
Pierce would sign his first big deal in the NBA with the Celtics, inking a six-year rookie extension worth $79 million in August 2001. In July 2006, Pierce would sign a three-year, $59 million veteran extension with the Celtics.
Pierce would terminate his deal with the Celtics early in June 2010. A month later, Pierce would sign a new contract with the Celtics, a four-year $61 million deal. While many thought that Pierce would spend his entire NBA career in Boston, that proved not to be the case, as he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in summer 2013.
He would only spend the 2013-14 NBA season in Brooklyn. Pierce would enter unrestricted free agency in summer 2014, ultimately signing a two-year deal with the Washington Wizards for $10.85 million with a player option for 2015-16. He would only spend a season in Washington, signing a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers worth $10.58 millions.
His contract is only guaranteed through this season. While he said he won’t play next year to collect the last $3.68 million of his Clippers contract, maybe Pierce has had enough basketball for one lifetime?
Though he has not made the most career earnings of any active player, one can easily project that Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James will one day reach that distinction. At 32 years old and still very much in his prime, James has made $200,607,292 in career earnings.
James was the No. 1 overall pick in the famous 2003 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers. He signed with his hometown team for $12.9 million on a three-year deal. Cleveland would exercise its team option on James for the 2006-07 NBA season, costing them $5.8 million. In July 2006, James should sign a four-year $60.4 million rookie scale extension.
He would play that deal out, then something called The Decision happened. In a sign-and-trade, James would ink a six-year, $110 million contract to play for the Miami Heat. James would reach the NBA Finals all four years he was in Miami, winning two NBA titles.
In summer 2014, James would opt out of his final two years with the Heat to come home and play for the Cavaliers again. James would sign a two-year deal with Cleveland worth $42.2 million with a player option for 2015-16. After one year, James would opt out of that contract with the Cavaliers.
James would cash in and sign a three-year, $100 million extension with the Cavaliers. The first two years of the deal he signed this summer a fully guaranteed. He has a player option for 2018-19, but will in all likelihood opt out. Should James play out the last two years of his current deal with the Cavaliers, he would stand to make roughly $269,500,969 in career earnings before his mid-30s.
James has already made over $200 million in career earnings and will make close to $250 before he hits free agency again. Should he play until his late 30s, James will easily eclipse $300 million in career earnings before he exits his prime.
The list of richest active NBA players is chock full of guys that came out in that famous 2003 NBA Draft. One guy that has made a killing financially in terms of NBA salary is New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony. He has made $201,120,659 in his 14-year NBA career.
Anthony went No. 3 overall in that 2003 NBA Draft to the Denver Nuggets. After one year at Syracuse, Anthony would sign a three-year, $10.4 million contract with the Nuggets. Denver would exercise its team option on Anthony for the 2006-07 NBA season, costing the Nuggets $4.7 million.
In July 2006, Denver and Anthony would reach an agreement on a five-year extension worth $80 million. Denver would be a competitive team in the Western Conference with Anthony as its star, but never reached an NBA Finals with him on the Nuggets roster. In 2011, Anthony would force a trade out of town to play for his hometown New York Knicks.
Anthony would agree to a three-year extension worth $64.2 million as a part of that deal from the Nuggets to the Knicks. In June 2014, Anthony would opt of his deal with the Knicks to sign a five-year extension with the club worth $121.4 million.
With the way that his contract is currently constructed, Anthony has a no-trade clause in his deal, two years left on it, and a player option for 2018-19. Should Anthony opt-in to the final year of his Knicks deal, he would stand to make $255,292,559 before hitting free agency again as a 34-year-old.
Overall, Anthony has been paid a ton of cash to never play in an NBA Finals. The Nuggets had a Western Conference Finals ceiling with him as their star player. New York continues to be an utter incompetency in the East. At least Anthony was able to make a bit of coin out of it.
A borderline Hall of Famer as one of the better isolation scorers of his generation, Utah Jazz shooting guard Joe Johnson has made an absurd amount of money in his professional career. The former sixth man for the Phoenix Suns and star player for both the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets has made $203,542,409 in career NBA earnings.
Johnson was the former No. 10 pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2001 NBA Draft out of Arkansas. He would sign a three-year rookie deal with Boston worth $5.18 million. Strangely, Boston would trade Johnson in the middle of his rookie year to Phoenix.
Phoenix would exercise its team option on Johnson for a fourth season, costing the Suns $2.35 million. While Phoenix would offer him a qualifying offer during his restricted agency, the Suns would negotiate a sign-and-trade with the Hawks in summer 2005. Arriving in Atlanta, Johnson would ink a five-year, $67.4 million contract.
In 2010 free agency, Johnson and Atlanta would agree to a seemingly unmovable six-year maximum contract extension worth $123.7 million. Two summers later, Atlanta was able to move Johnson to Brooklyn.
Johnson would play the next 3.5 seasons with the Nets. In February 2016, Johnson would have his contract bought out by the Nets on an expiring deal. He would sign with the Miami Heat on a veteran’s minimum for the rest of the season.
Johnson would hit 2016 unrestricted free agency and sign a two-year deal with the Jazz worth $22 million. If Johnson plays out the rest of his deal with the Jazz, he would stand to make $214,452,249 before maybe inking one final contract. His 2010 extension was certainly an all-timer.
The highest paid active player in the NBA today is Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki. It’s not even close. The greatest player in Dallas franchise history and the greatest international player in NBA history has made $241,646,342 in salary, all with one NBA franchise.
Nowitzki wasn’t actually drafted by Dallas, but by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft at No. 9 overall. His rights would be swapped to the Mavericks, where he would sign a three-year rookie deal worth $4.7 million.
In October 2000, Dallas would exercise its player option on Nowitzki for the 2001-02 NBA season, costing the Mavericks $2.15 million. Nowitzki would sign a four-year rookie scale extension worth $48 million. Once that contract expired, he would sign a five-year $90.8 million veteran extension with the Mavericks in September 2006.
In June 2010, Nowitzki would void the final years of that contract to enter free agency. Nowitzki would go on to sign a four-year, $80 million contract with the Mavericks in July of that same year. Once that four-year deal ran its course, Dallas would agree to another extension: a three-year deal worth $25 million in July 2014.
Nowitzki would opt out of the final year of that deal to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2016. Knowing that this might be his last big pay day, Nowitzki signed a one-year deal worth $25 million with a club option for 2017-18.
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Should Nowitzki play next season, he would stand to make roughly $266,646,362 in career NBA salary. As one of the greatest players in NBA history, Nowitzki earned every dollar he has received from the Mavericks the last 19 seasons.