How Much Do NBA Players Make A Year?

How much do NBA players make a year? It’s a question that many fans ask, and it’s one that can be difficult to answer. However, we’ve done some research and compiled some data to give you a better idea of what NBA players earn.

NBA Players Salaries

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players

The NBA has seen a lot of changes in recent years, with player salaries rising to new heights. But which players are actually earning the most money?

Based on data from Basketball-Reference.com, here are the 10 highest-paid players in the NBA for the 2019-20 season.

1. Stephen Curry, G, Golden State Warriors: $43.006 million
2. Russell Westbrook, G, Houston Rockets: $41.358 million
3. Chris Paul, G, Oklahoma City Thunder: $38.506 million
4. LeBron James, F, Los Angeles Lakers: $37.436 million
5. Kevin Durant, F, Brooklyn Nets: $37.2 million
6. Kyrie Irving, G, Brooklyn Nets: $33.444 million
7. Jimmy Butler, G/F, Miami Heat: $32.742 million
8. Klay Thompson, G/F, Golden State Warriors: $32.379 million
9 Kemba Walker, G Charlotte Hornets :$32 million
10 Tobias Harris Philadelphia Sixers :$33 Million

The NBA’s Lowest-Paid Players

At the bottom of the NBA’s salary list are the league’s minimum wage players. In the 2019-20 season, the league minimum salary is $582,180 for players with up to two years of experience, $1,702,200 for players with three to five years of experience and $2,517,981 for players with six or more years of experience. Of course, many NBA players are earning well above the league minimum. In fact, the average NBA player earned $7.7 million in salary in the 2018-19 season.

How NBA Players’ Salaries Are Determined

NBA players’ salaries are determined by a number of factors, including the player’s experience, the team’s budget, and the size of the market. The maximum salary a player can earn is determined by the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. In addition to their salaries, NBA players also receive benefits such as health insurance and a retirement plan.

NBA Rookie Salary Scale

The NBA has a rookie salary scale that dictates how much first-year players can make. It’s based on the NBA’s revenue, which determines the overall salary cap for the league. The rookie salary scale is computed using a percentage of the salary cap and is structured so that it declines slightly each year over a four-year period. The following is the rookie salary scale for 2019-20:

Rookies signed in 2019-20
* 1st year: $8,093,160
* 2nd year: $8,545,154
* 3rd year: $9,198,222
* 4th year: $10,156,676

After four years, players become restricted free agents, which means that they can negotiate with any team but their current team has the right to match any offer. If their current team does not match an offer sheet that they sign with another team, they become unrestricted free agents and can sign with any team.

NBA Salary Cap

The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that NBA teams are allowed to spend on player salaries. The cap is set by the NBA’s Board of Governors (made up of all 30 team owners) and is based on several factors, including league revenues, projected revenues, and other economic indicators.

The salary cap for the 2019-20 season is $109 million, up from $102 million in 2018-19. The cap was $99 million in 2017-18, $94.14 million in 2016-17, $92 million in 2015-16, and $63.065 million in 2014-15.

Players’ salaries are not determined by the salary cap. The NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) sets forth a formula for how player salaries are calculated each year, based on a percentage of league revenues. The CBA also sets maximum and minimum salaries for players based on their years of experience in the league.

NBA Luxury Tax

The NBA’s luxury tax is a soft salary cap that acts as a penalty for teams that spend too much money on player salaries. If a team’s total payroll exceeds a certain amount, the team has to pay a tax to the league. The tax money is then divided among the teams that did not go over the salary cap.

The luxury tax threshold for the 2019-20 season is $132.6 million. If a team’s payroll is over this amount, they have to pay a tax of $1 for every $5 they are over the threshold. For example, if a team has a payroll of $140 million, they would have to pay a luxury tax of $4 million.

The amount of money that teams have to pay in luxury taxes can vary greatly from year to year. In 2017-18, for example, six teams paid a combined $110 million in luxury taxes. In 2018-19, only two teams paid out a combined $22 million in taxes. The biggest factor that determines how much teams have to pay in taxes is how far over the salary cap they are.

The NBA’s luxury tax is one way that the league tries to keep parity among its teams. By making it more expensive for richer teams to keep spending on players, it levels the playing field and gives smaller-market teams a better chance to compete.

NBA Players’ Salaries Vs. Other Professional Athletes

It is well known that professional athletes make a lot of money. However, there is a big discrepancy in the salaries of different professional athletes. For example, the average NBA player make around $5.15 million per year, while the average MLB player make around $3.2 million per year. Why is there such a big difference?

NFL Players

In the NFL, the average career lasts just under four years, and the average player’s salary is $2.7 million. NFL players make a median salary of $860,000 a year, but the top players can make more than $30 million a year. While the NFL doesn’t release exact salary figures, we do know that the highest-paid player in the league is currently quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks, who makes an estimated $35 million per year.

MLB Players

The average MLB player salary is $4.38 million, dwarfing the NBA’s average of $7.7 million, according to data from Spotrac. Major League Baseball’s richest team, the New York Yankees, doled out an incredible $228 million in player salaries this season. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a close second at $196 million. At the other end of the spectrum are small-market teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates, who spent just $61 million and $70 million on salaries, respectively.

Players in MLB’s minor leagues make significantly less than their big-league counterparts. According to The Athletic, the average salary for a Triple-A player was just over $87,000 in 2019, while Double-A players earned an average of $63,000 and Single-A players made an average of $52,000.

NHL Players

NHL players make an average of $2.9 million per year, which is less than NBA players, who make an average of $7.4 million per year. However, it should be noted that MLB players make an average of $4 million per year, so NHL players are not the lowest-paid professional athletes.

NBA Players’ Endorsements

In addition to their salaries, NBA players can also make extra money through endorsements. Many players have endorsement deals with companies that allow them to make money by promoting their products. Some of the most popular products that NBA players endorse are sneakers, clothing, and basketballs.

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players

In 2018, the NBA’s highest-paid player was LeBron James, who made $35.6 million in salary and $52 million in endorsements for a total of $87.6 million.

The second highest-paid player was Kevin Durant, who made $30 million in salary and $36 million in endorsements for a total of $66 million.

Rounding out the top five were Stephen Curry ($34.9 million), Russell Westbrook ($33.6 million), and James Harden ($28.8 million).

The NBA’s Lowest-Paid Players

In the NBA, star players often command multimillion-dollar salaries, while minimum-salaried players earn a fraction of that amount. In the 2018-19 season, the league’s average player salary was $7.7 million, and superstars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant earned annual salaries north of $30 million.

At the other end of the spectrum are the NBA’s lowest-paid players. Several factors contribute to a player’s salary, including experience, production and role on the team. For example, a minimum-salaried player who is a veteran and a starter will likely earn more than a first-year bench player.

According to Spotrac, these are the 10 lowest-paid players in the NBA for the 2018-19 season:

1. Jabari Parker, Chicago Bulls – $6.5 million
2. Tyson Chandler, Phoenix Suns – $7.4 million
3. Joakim Noah, Memphis Grizzlies – $7.6 million
4. Luol Deng, Minnesota Timberwolves – $7.6 million
5. Carmelo Anthony, Houston Rockets – $8 million
6. Andrew Bogut, Los Angeles Lakers – $2.3 million (veteran’s minimum)
7. Jamal Crawford, Phoenix Suns – $9 million
8./9./10./11./12 Maurice Harkless (Portland Trail Blazers), Courtney Lee (New York Knicks), Amir Johnson (Philadelphia 76ers), Mario Hezonja (New York Knicks) and Brandon Ingram (Los Angeles Lakers) – all make $9 million; tied for 10th lowest in NBA