Highest-paid NBA players by season

Michael Jordan, who earned $33,140,000 in the 1997–98 NBA season, attempts a slam dunk at the old Boston Garden.

The highest-paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty-million-dollar range. In this twelve-year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003–04 season. Garnett has been the highest-paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997–98 season, Jordan earned $33,140,000, which still stands as the most any NBA player has earned on a 1 year contract, Jordan also holds the record for the second largest 1 year contract at $30,140,000 in the 1996-97 season. Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013–14 season began.^[1] LeBron James became the third in the 2016–17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40-Million per year when he signed a record 5-year contract worth $201-Million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017-18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021-22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966.

Beginning in the 1984–85 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced. The NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season. However, the NBA uses a "soft" salary cap, which means that significant "salary exceptions" allow NBA teams to exceed their allotted amount in order to sign players. The salary cap is determined during the offseason, but as stated earlier, it is liable to change.^[2]

An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". The Larry Bird exception, more commonly known as Bird Rights, allows teams to re-sign a current player only if he has played for that particular team for a minimum of three years.^[3] Another exception known as the mid-level exception allows for teams that are over the salary cap to sign one or more players as long as they do not exceed the total amount of the average NBA salary.^[4] Next, the bi-annual exception can be used by teams every other year to sign a free agent(s) for up to two years at an amount set by the NBA.^[5] Finally, the rookie player exception allows any NBA team to sign their first-round draft pick to a contract based upon a scale previously set forth by the NBA. Another option for teams would be to assign players to a league-assigned minimum salary contract for a maximum of two years.

According to 2010–11 NBA season game performance, the league's best players were not its highest-paid players. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two All-NBA Teams. Out of those ten players chosen that year, Kobe Bryant was the only player that was also among the game's ten highest-paid during the 2010–11 NBA season.^[6]

2010s

2016–2017

LeBron James became the third player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season, after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Player [9]	Salary	Team
LeBron James	$30,963,450	Cleveland Cavaliers
Al Horford	$26,540,100	Boston Celtics
DeMar DeRozan	$26,540,100	Toronto Raptors
James Harden	$26,540,100	Houston Rockets
Kevin Durant	$26,540,100	Golden State Warriors
Russell Westbrook	$26,540,100	Oklahoma City Thunder
Mike Conley Jr.	$26,540,100	Memphis Grizzlies
Dirk Nowitzki	$25,000,000	Dallas Mavericks
Carmelo Anthony	$24,559,380	New York Knicks
Damian Lillard	$24,328,425	Portland Trail Blazers

2015–2016

Kobe Bryant, who spent his entire 20-year career in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform, was the highest-paid player in the league from the 2009–10 until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season.

Player [10]	Salary	Team
Kobe Bryant	$25,000,000	Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James	$22,970,500	Cleveland Cavaliers
Carmelo Anthony	$22,875,000	New York Knicks
Dwight Howard	$22,359,364	Houston Rockets
Chris Bosh	$22,192,730	Miami Heat
Chris Paul	$21,468,695	Los Angeles Clippers
Kevin Durant	$20,158,622	Oklahoma City Thunder
Derrick Rose	$20,093,064	Chicago Bulls
Dwyane Wade	$20,000,000	Miami Heat
LaMarcus Aldridge	$19,689,000	San Antonio Spurs

2014–2015 Player [11] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $23,500,000 Los Angeles Lakers Amar'e Stoudemire $23,410,988 New York Knicks Joe Johnson $23,180,790 Brooklyn Nets Carmelo Anthony $22,458,401 New York Knicks Dwight Howard $21,436,271 Houston Rockets Chris Bosh $20,644,400 Miami Heat LeBron James $20,644,400 Cleveland Cavaliers Chris Paul $20,068,563 Los Angeles Clippers Deron Williams $19,754,465 Brooklyn Nets Rudy Gay $19,317,326 Sacramento Kings

2013–2014 Player [12] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $30,453,805 Los Angeles Lakers Dirk Nowitzki $22,721,381 Dallas Mavericks Amar'e Stoudemire $21,679,893 New York Knicks Joe Johnson $21,466,718 Brooklyn Nets Carmelo Anthony $21,388,953 New York Knicks Dwight Howard $20,513,178 Houston Rockets Pau Gasol $19,285,850 Los Angeles Lakers Chris Bosh $19,067,500 Miami Heat LeBron James $19,067,500 Miami Heat Dwyane Wade $18,673,000 Miami Heat

2012–2013 Player [13] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $30,453,805 Los Angeles Lakers Dirk Nowitzki $20,907,128 Dallas Mavericks Amar'e Stoudemire $19,948,799 New York Knicks Joe Johnson $19,752,645 Brooklyn Nets Carmelo Anthony $19,444,503 New York Knicks Pau Gasol $19,285,850 Los Angeles Lakers Chris Bosh $19,067,500 Miami Heat LeBron James $19,067,500 Miami Heat Dwyane Wade $18,673,000 Miami Heat Chris Paul $18,668,431 Los Angeles Clippers

2011–2012 Player [14] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $25,244,493 Los Angeles Lakers Kevin Garnett $21,247,044 Boston Celtics Tim Duncan $21,164,619 San Antonio Spurs Rashard Lewis $21,136,631 Washington Wizards Dirk Nowitzki $19,092,873 Dallas Mavericks Pau Gasol $18,714,150 Los Angeles Lakers Carmelo Anthony $18,518,574 New York Knicks Amar'e Stoudemire $18,217,705 New York Knicks Elton Brand $18,160,355 Philadelphia 76ers Dwight Howard $18,091,770 Orlando Magic

2010–2011 Player [15] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $24,806,250 Los Angeles Lakers Rashard Lewis $19,573,711 Washington Wizards Tim Duncan $18,835,381 San Antonio Spurs Kevin Garnett $18,832,044 Boston Celtics Michael Redd $18,300,000 Milwaukee Bucks Andrei Kirilenko $17,823,000 Utah Jazz Pau Gasol $17,823,000 Los Angeles Lakers Gilbert Arenas $17,730,694 Washington Wizards Yao Ming $17,686,100 Houston Rockets Zach Randolph $17,666,666 Memphis Grizzlies

2009–2010 Player [16] Salary Team Kobe Bryant $23,034,375 Los Angeles Lakers Jermaine O'Neal $23,016,000 Miami Heat Tracy McGrady $22,843,124 New York Knicks Tim Duncan $22,183,220 San Antonio Spurs Shaquille O'Neal $21,000,000 Cleveland Cavaliers Dirk Nowitzki $19,795,714 Dallas Mavericks Paul Pierce $19,795,712 Boston Celtics Ray Allen $18,776,860 Boston Celtics Rashard Lewis $18,010,791 Orlando Magic Michael Redd $17,040,000 Milwaukee Bucks

2000s

2008–2009

Kevin Garnett was the highest-paid player during the 2008–09, 2007–08, and 2006–07 seasons; he relinquished that position to Shaquille O'Neal for two seasons, but was also the highest-paid player during the 2003–04, 2002–03, 2001–02, and 2000–01 seasons.

Player [17]	Salary	Team
Kevin Garnett	$24,751,934	Boston Celtics
Jason Kidd	$21,372,000	Dallas Mavericks
Jermaine O'Neal	$21,372,000	Toronto Raptors
Kobe Bryant	$21,262,500	Los Angeles Lakers
Shaquille O'Neal	$21,000,000	Phoenix Suns
Allen Iverson	$20,840,625	Detroit Pistons
Stephon Marbury	$20,840,625	Boston Celtics
Tim Duncan	$20,598,704	San Antonio Spurs
Tracy McGrady	$20,370,437	Houston Rockets
Ray Allen	$18,388,430	Boston Celtics

1990s

See also

• List of highest paid Major League Baseball players
• List of player salaries in the NHL
• List of salaries

References