Basketball is a very popular sport, and the most popular medium for it is the NBA. Millions of people watch the NBA, which is the best basketball league in the world. What started as “just a sport” has now become a battle of the warriors for people’s favorite champions. The number of basketball fans increases every year as well.
As the NBA is the best league globally, the paychecks that the players get are pretty hefty, too. So scroll down to see the top ten highest-earning NBA players of all time. Some names you may know, some you might not.
10. Kevin Durant
Net worth: 170 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 26.5 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 225,382,333 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Nike, degree, YouTube, Master, and dynamic. He is a shareholder of the Philadelphia Union and an investor in over 40 companies.
Kevin Durant is known as one of the most charismatic and polarizing basketball players in the world. An unstoppable beast on the court, Kevin’s shooting and scoring are unmatched. He has been a 10-time NBA All-Star, a league MVP, and a four-time NBA scoring champion. His unseen talent has made him an interest for many teams in the league.
The scoring forwards talent not just helped him on the court but off-court as well. His investments have been paying off very well, with him making 15 million dollars. He had invested 1 million dollars in post-mates which were later bought by Uber, which generated the 15-million-dollar profit.
9. Hakeem Olajuwon
Net worth: 200 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 7 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 107,011,426 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Spalding, Etonic, L.A gear. He is a successful Real Estate businessman.
Nicknamed the dream, Hakeem has been called the best centre of all time in the NBA. His footwork is so incredible that he could dominate any opposing centre. He even had his signature manoeuvre called the dream shake.
His achievements in the NBA gave him some big fat paychecks. Cap all of these achievements off with two NBA championships, making him the Finals MVP in all two seasons. After his eighteen seasons in the league, the dream made 107 million dollars.
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8. David Robinson
Net worth: 200 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 7.9 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 114,448,123 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Doritos, Edge, former board member of the USAA Federal Savings Bank, Board member of the US Naval academy foundation, and center plate. He is a successful venture capitalist and advisor.
The Admiral has made quite the impression in the world of the NBA. He was a ten-time all-star for the NBA; he led in scoring, rebounding, and blocking on many different seasons.
Robinson also won the defensive player of the year award and his rookie of the year and has been the league MVP. The admiral legacy was brought into stone through his two NBA championships. Even off-court, the man is unstoppable; he is a successful venture capitalist and one of the co-founders of the admiral capital group.
7. Grant Hill
Net worth: 250 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 1.98 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 141,008,544 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Fila, Sprite, McDonald’s, tag huer, AT&T., he is also a TV actor and show host. He is the owner of Hill Ventures and Co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
He was one of the best forwards to ever play in the NBA. His all-around abilities made him an unavoidable threat on the court, and his scoring ability was just not comprehensible for his opponents. His immediate impact in the league happened when he won the rookie of the year award. Grant led the NBA in terms of triple and doubles in just one season.
Later, he was declared an NBA All-star and would be a part of the All-NBA team multiple times. Due to his injury, he had to leave the sport, and this question mark is still lingered by fans. But his time in the league served him very well. Even though he can participate in the court, off-court, he didn’t go that far away.
6. Shaquille O’Neal
Net worth: 400 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 27.7 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 292,198,327 dollars
Other ventures: Icy Hot, the General, Reebok, Buick, Monster Headphones. A part of all those endorsements, Shaq has his line of shoes, are an actor, a royal member of Papa John’s, and a sports analyst.
Shaq is perhaps the most dominant and notable NBA centre. His size and strength asserted his dominance over everyone in the court. He took over the league when he played as a rookie. He won three straight NBA championships; he was declared the finals MVP in all three seasons.
His abilities collected him 15 all-star games, two scoring titles, and the coveted MVP league trophy. When his fame started excelling, heaven released four rap albums. He even had his movie called Steel and has been making guest appearances ever since.
5. Lebrun James
Net worth: 450 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 37.44 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 306,984,009 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Nike, Coca-Cola, Beats by Dre, Blaze Pizza, 2k sports, Rimowa, Upper Deck, State Farm Insurance, Audemars Piguet, Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins, Kia Motors, Verizon, Intel, Samsung, Mcdonald’s. He is also a franchise owner of Blaze Pizza and a stakeholder of Liverpool F.C.
Lebron James is the highest-paid active player in the NBA. This is rightly so because the man is a certified machine on the court. The best player in the world gets the best paychecks that are precisely what is happening here.
He has 16 all-star game appearances, as scoring title, and all of these are wrapped up under three NBA championships in which he was the Finals MVP.
4. Kobe Bryant
Net worth: 600 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 25 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 328,237,108 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Adidas, Nike, McDonald’s, Sprite, Nintendo, Turkish Airlines. He is a venture capitalist, an investor of body armour as well as a poem writer.
Kobe will forever be remembered as one of the GOATS, his achievements on court wren incomparable. The man was a performance powerhouse with over 18 all-star game appearances, two scoring titles, and a league MVP trophy. The world lost him in a plane crash; he will always be remembered.
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3. Magic Johnson
Net worth: 600 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 1 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 39,342,860 dollars
Other ventures: Entrepreneur, Investor of L, A dodgers, and L.A Sparks. He is also one of the former presidents of basketball operations for the Lakers.
Magic Johnson is one of the OGs who brought the game into the limelight. His irrefutable talent would put a spell on everyone as soon as he stepped on the court. His smart investments and big paychecks have gotten him 3rd place on this list.
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2. Junior Bridgeman
Net worth: 600 million dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 350,000 dollars
Total NBA earnings: 4,200,000 dollars
Other ventures: Board of directors for PGA, President of Bridgeman food Inc, Coca-Cola bottler.
Junior was not a superstar, but he did have a decent career. His investments off the court made him a multi-millionaire and landed him in the number 2 spot.
Compared to other players on this list, his annual NBA salary is pretty low. However, his smart and wise decisions off the court are what made his net worth comparable to others on the list.
In fact, he was so good that despite not being a “better” (in terms of money) player on the field, he managed to beat all of them except Michael Jordan.
1. Michael Jordan
Net worth: 1.6 billion dollars
Annual Average NBA Salary: 4 million dollars
Total NBA earnings: 93,772,500 dollars
Other ventures: Endorsed by Nike, Hanes, Gatorade, And Upper Deck. He is also a businessman and an investor.
Jordan is arguably the greatest NBA player of all time. With three championships under his belt and 6 final MVP declarations, he is known for his legendary three-peat. The now-retired King of the court owns the charlotte hornet, with 97% of shares being held by him.
Guest author: Shaheer ul Haq
A tech geek turned-content writer who writes to provide value and not for the mere sake of writing. Other than writing, you’ll find me trying to solve physics equations.