Who Gets Paid the Most in the NBA?

We all know that NBA players are some of the highest paid athletes in the world. But just how much do they make? Here’s a look at the top 10 highest paid NBA players for the 2019-2020 season.

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players

The NBA is a league full of superstars. Some of the most popular athletes in the world play in the NBA, and they are very well compensated for their talents. In this article, we will take a look at the NBA’s highest-paid players. We will see who is making the most money, and we will try to answer the question of why they are making so much money.

LeBron James

LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history. James has appeared in fifteen NBA All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP Award four times, and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the All-Star Game. He has also been voted onto the All-NBA First Team twelve times and the All-Defensive First Team five times.

Kevin Durant

The top spot on the NBA’s highest-paid players list goes to Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. Durant will earn a whopping $75 million this season in salary and endorsements, which is more than twice what the next highest-paid player will take home.

Durant’s $65 million salary is the result of a two-year, $164 million contract extension he signed with the Nets in 2019. The deal includes a player option for the 2021-22 season, which Durant is almost certain to exercise given the record-setting contract extension he signed with Nike last year. That deal is worth up to $300 million over 10 years and includes equity in the company.

In second place on the list is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who will earn $43.9 million this season. Curry’s salary is largely due to his endorsement deals with Under Armour and Chase, as well as his appearances in ads for Express and Sony PlayStation.

Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a seven-time All-Star and earned an NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2016–17 season.

Westbrook played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who then relocated to Oklahoma City six days later. He is one of only two players in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, along with Oscar Robertson in 1962. Westbrook has led the league in scoring three times and has been named to eight All-NBA teams and nine NBA All-Defensive teams.

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Teams

The NBA is a league full of stars, but which teams are paying their players the most? The answer may surprise you. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, have the highest payroll in the NBA. However, they are not the only team paying their players a lot of money.

The Los Angeles Lakers

There is no team in the NBA that has a higher payroll than the Los Angeles Lakers. The team’s total salary for the 2019-2020 season is $148 million, which is $12 million higher than the second highest-paid team, the Houston Rockets. The Lakers’ roster includes some of the highest-paid players in the league, such as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Lakers are followed by the Rockets ($136 million), the Golden State Warriors ($135 million), the Milwaukee Bucks ($132 million), and the Brooklyn Nets ($131 million). The Nets have the highest payroll of any team in the Eastern Conference.

The Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Warriors relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and took the city’s name, before changing its geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. They play their home games at the Chase Center.

The Warriors won the 1947 BAA Finals, which marked the franchise’s first championship victory. The franchise won again in 1956, led by Hall of Fame players Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, and Neil Johnston. However, after declining to appear in the 1957 NBA Finals due to injury, they would not win another championship until 1975, led by players such as Rick Barry and future Hall of Famers Jamaal Wilkes and Phil Smith. They won their second title in 2015, once again led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. While they failed to defend their title in 2016 due chiefly to injuries to Curry and fellow All-Star Kevin Durant, they returned to glory in 2017 after signing Durant as a free agent during the off-season; they went on to win their third championship that year, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4–1 in the NBA Finals. This was followed by consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019 without Durant (who left for Brooklyn during free agency); becoming only the fifth team (and first since 1990) to repeat three times or more postseason play-offs; as well as becoming only second franchise (the other being Boston Celtics) overall with three or more consecutive championships since 1950.

In 2019–20 season suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually it ended with Los Angeles Lakers winning NBA Finals over Miami Heat 4–2.

From 2017 onward under current head coach Steve Kerr, they have compiled a 240–57 (.809) record with five trips to The Finals (winning three), making them by far the most successful NBA team over that span both numerically and winning percentage-wise.

The Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets have the highest-paid team in the NBA this season, with a payroll of $133 million. The Rockets are followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers ($130 million), the Golden State Warriors ($125 million), and the Oklahoma City Thunder ($122 million). The Cavaliers’ payroll is buoyed by the $30 million salary of LeBron James, who is the highest-paid player in the league. The Warriors’ payroll includes $24 million for Kevin Durant, who signed with the team this summer. The Thunder’s payroll is anchored by Russell Westbrook, who is making $26.5 million this season.

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Coaches

The NBA’s highest-paid coaches are no surprise. With big-name teams and high-profile players, these coaches have the wins, the contracts, and the media attention to match their big paychecks. Here are the top five highest-paid coaches in the NBA.

Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers is the head coach of the LA Clippers. He is also the president of basketball operations for the team. Rivers was born in 1961 in Maywood, Illinois. He played college basketball for Marquette University. After graduation, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1983 NBA draft. Rivers spent four seasons with the Hawks before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 1991. He retired from playing in 1996 and became an assistant coach with the team. In 2000, he became the head coach of the Orlando Magic. He coached the team for five seasons before being fired in 2003. In 2004, he was hired as the head coach of the Boston Celtics. He coached the team for nine seasons and won one NBA Championship in 2008. In 2013, he was hired as the head coach of the LA Clippers.

Gregg Popovich

The highest-paid coach in the NBA is Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. He is in the midst of a five-year, $50 million contract that he signed in 2014. That works out to an average annual salary of $10 million.

Popovich is followed by Stan Van Gundy of the Detroit Pistons, who is in the midst of a five-year, $35 million deal. That comes out to an average annual salary of $7 million.

The next highest-paid coach is Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers. He is in the middle of a five-year contract worth $50 million. That works out to an average annual salary of $10 million.

Rounding out the top five highest-paid coaches in the NBA are Tom Thibodeau of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Scott Brooks of the Washington Wizards. Thibodeau is in the first year of a five-year, $40 million contract, while Brooks is in the fourth year of a five-year, $35 million deal.

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also a six-time NBA champion, winning three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs as a player, and one more with the Warriors as a head coach. Kerr has the highest winning percentage of any coach in NBA history.