The highest-paid players in the NBA are some of the highest-paid professional sports players in the world.
The league is incredibly popular worldwide and that has pumped billions of dollars on TV money into the league over the years.
It also doesn’t hurt that the league’s collective bargaining agreement was designed so that players could make more money by achieving awards and re-signing with the team that drafted them.
The goal of this plan was to help small-market teams retain superstar talent.
In many ways, the plan has worked.
Take the Portland Trail Blazers and Guard Damian Lillard for example.
Lillard is under contract through the 2024-25 season by way of a “mega-max” extension; a four-year deal that will pay him a whopping $196 million.
Although Lillard has says he hopes to retire a Trail Blazer, who knows if he would’ve stayed if not for the financial incentives.
Not every player is eligible for that kind of money though.
You must meet strict criteria to be granted the 35% salary cap max.
Of the top 20 highest-paid players in the NBA, only four are on this type of contract.
However, the other highest-paid players make exorbitant amounts of money as well.
Here’s a list of the top 20 highest paid players for the 2019-2020 season:
Stephen Curry ($40,231,758)
Chris Paul ($38,506,482)
Russell Westbrook ($38,178,000)
John Wall ($37,800,00)
James Harden ($37,800,00)
LeBron James ($37,436,858)
Kevin Durant ($37,199,000)
Blake Griffin ($34,234,964)
Kyle Lowry ($33,296,296)
Paul George ($33,005,556)
Klay Thompson ($32,742,00)
Jimmy Butler ($32,742,00)
Kemba Walker ($32,742,00)
Kawhi Leonard ($32,742,00)
Gordon Hayward ($32,700,690)
Mike Conley ($32,511,623)
Kyrie Irving ($31,742,000)
Tobias Harris ($31,034,483)
Khris Middleton ($30,603,448)
Paul Millsap ($30,500,000)
Salary totals via Basketball Reference.