The 2021 NBA season tipped off last month and barely made it two weeks before coronavirus wreaked havoc on the schedule. Over 22 games have been postponed, and numerous players and team staff have been quarantined.
Over the past three decades, NBA salaries have skyrocketed up tenfold to a pre-Covid average of $9.5 million per player last season. For the seventh year straight, LeBron James is the league’s highest-paid player.
The Warriors have two of the league’s highest-paid stars in Curry and Thompson (No. 8, $43.3 million), but the Brooklyn Nets one-upped them with their blockbuster trade this month for three-time reigning scoring champion James Harden. Kevin Durant (No. 3, $65.2 million), Harden (No. 5, $50 million) and Kyrie Irving (No. 7, $43 million) are an expensive trio but make the Nets a title favourite, along with the Lakers.
For the 2020-21 season, the leagues ten top-earning players are expected to earn a total of $558 million in salary and endorsements. Here’s a look at who these highly-paid NBA players are:
10. Damian Lillard
Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Salary: $25 million
Endorsements: $14 million
Total earnings: $39 million
Lillard recently joined Gatorade’s Bolt24 product line, which launched in 2019. “It is new now, but there will come a time when Bolt24 is a well-known thing. I saw it as an opportunity to be tied to that history,” Lillard told Forbes. He also launched an annual internship program last year for underserved students in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
9. Chris Paul
Team: Phoenix Suns
Salary: $33.1 million
Endorsements: $7 million
Total earnings: $40.1 million
The NBA Players Association president invested in a pair of funds from Turner Impact Capital and made a personal investment in Beyond Meat. Next season, Paul has an option worth $44.2 million that he almost definitely will take. It is the last year of his four-year, $160 million contract.
8. Kyrie Irving
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Salary: $26 million
Endorsements: $17 million
Total earnings: $43 million
In January, Irving missed seven games with the Nets, explaining he “just needed a pause.” The break cost him almost $900,000 for two-game checks and a $50,000 fine for violating NBA Covid rules. Apart from this, Irving’s viral Pepsi ad campaign was the inspiration for the 2018 Uncle Drew movie starring him.
7. Klay Thompson
Team: Golden State Warriors
Salary: $28.3 million
Endorsements: $15 million
Total earnings: $43.3 million
Thompson endorses a plethora of prominent brands like Tissot, Mercedes-Benz and Kaiser Permanente, but his Chinese shoe partner Anta represents more than half of his off-court income. In October, the five-time All-Star joined Alex Morgan, Travis Pastrana and Paul Rodriguez to launch a CBD brand, Just Live. The mission is to provide natural alternatives to painkillers for fitness recovery.
6. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Salary: $22 million
Endorsements: $27 million
Total earnings: $49 million
In December, Antetokounmpo signed a five-year, $228 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks – the richest in NBA history. Disney also locked up the rights to a movie on the life of the two-time reigning MVP, who arrived to the United States from Greece in 2013. It is expected to be released in 2022.
5. James Harden
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Salary: $33 million
Endorsements: $17 million
Total earnings: $50 million
Harden’s Adidas deal pays approximately $14 million a year, and the guard has leaned toward equity deals for his other partners, like Stance, Art of Sport and BodyArmor. In December, smart home fragrance brand Pura announced that the 2018 NBA MVP had joined the company as an investor and creative director.
4. Russell Westbrook
Team: Washington Wizards
Salary: $33 million
Endorsements: $25 million
Total earnings: $58.1 million
Off late, Westbrook has decreased his endorsements—Nike represents an overwhelming bulk of his sponsorship income. Although, the megastar has built a robust car dealership portfolio with ten dealerships in Southern California.
3. Kevin Durant
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Salary: $31.2 million
Endorsements: $34 million
Total earnings: $65.2 million
In November, Durant struck gold when Uber bought food-delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion. He had invested in the San Francisco-based startup at a discounted entry price in 2016 in exchange for his endorsement and converted his $1 million stakes into almost $15 million.
2. Stephen Curry
Team: Golden State Warriors
Salary: $34.4 million
Endorsements: $40 million
Total earnings: $74.4 million
For the fourth consecutive season, Curry’s salary is the highest in the NBA. The run comes after he completed a bargain-basement deal worth $44 million over four years, during which he won two MVP Awards and led the Warriors to two titles. Additionally, his production company, Unanimous Media, entered podcasting last year with a first-look deal at Amazon-owned Audible.
1. LeBron James
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Salary: $31.4 million
Endorsements: $64 million
Total earnings: $95.4 million
King James is the NBA’s top-earning player for the seventh straight year, including off-court income. He is expected to rake in $95.4 million, including approximately $64 million from endorsements, memorabilia and media. It is the highest ever in American team sports. This historic year will push his career earnings to $1 billion, including $700 million off the court. He joins Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in reaching the three-comma club while still being an active athlete.
