Does The King Or Steph Reign As The Highest Paid NBA Player?

Year after year salaries in the NBA rise, benefitting not only the best the game has to offer, but even the benchwarmers, guys so deep on the bench that you’d need a compass to find them. The game has gone global, and with that comes money, ​so m​uch money. And everybody gets a piece of the pie. Obviously the better the player, the bigger the slice, so let’s take a look at the guys who get the biggest slices. (Speaking of slices, make sure you check out the latest NBA lines, and go to 888 Sport or our sports betting app to make some of your dough!)

With no further ado, the ten highest paid players in the NBA. (Don't worry Eyebrow and Giannis. You'll be joining this list very very soon.)

10. Paul George, LA Clippers, $33 million

The Clip Show traded for George way back in July, and in doing so they took on his four-year, $136.9 million contract. If the Clippers get to the NBA Finals, it’ll be more than worth it.

9. Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons, $34.5 million

Griffin was traded from the Clippers to the Pistons in January 2018, just a little more than a year after he signed a five-year, $171.2 million that expires in 2022. The injury bug has bitten Griffin a little over the last few years, so this investment is looking not too great for the Pistons. Griffin isn’t getting any younger.

8. Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors, $34.9 million

Toronto won it all last year and apparently they found some coins in the figurative couch cushions because Lowry earned $31 million last year, so that’s an almost $4 million bump for this season. To the victors go the spoils.

7. LeBron James, LA Lakers, $37.4 million

The King took his talents to Tinseltown back in 2018, signing a four-year, $153.3 million contract. (Look out though, as teammate Anthony Davis is up for a big contract next year.) Though he’s only 7th on this list, by the time this contract expires in 2022, he will have earned $387 million in total salary thus giving him the highest all-time contract earnings in NBA history. At least he’ll be “the best ever” at something.

4-tied. John Wall, Washington Wizards, $38.2 million

Wall will be one of the highest-paid players in the league for years due to signing a four-year, $171.1 million contract extension in 2017. The extension will pay him more than $47 million/year until it expires in 2023. Unfortunately for the Wizards, Wall tore his Achilles tendon and will miss the entire season. Fortunately for him, he’s rich.

4-tied. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets, $38.2 million

Arguably the greatest player on the planet, Durant left the Golden State to sign a four-year, $164.3 million contract with Brooklyn in the summer of 2019. Even though Durant ruptured his Achilles in the finals that same year, the Nets didn’t blink in offering this huge deal. Now they just sit and wait, hoping he and Kyrie make their gamble pay off. Durant will make $42 million in 2023, the final year of the contract.

4-tied. James Harden, Houston Rockets, $38.2 million

Harden is in his 11th season in the league (it really doesn’t see this long--almost like he’s only been “The Beard” for about five years) and the first year of a four-year, $171.1 million extension he signed in 2017. This is on top of the contract he signed in 2016 that had originally paid him an average annual salary of $29.5 million.

2-tied. Chris Paul, Oklahoma City Thunder, $38.5 million

No longer in Los Angeles, CP3 was traded for Russell Westbrook in a huge offseason trade in 2019. Paul’s deal is for four years, worth $159.7 million. It expires in 2022.

2-tied. Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets, $38.5 million

Tied with the aforementioned Paul for the second year in a row for second-highest paid in the league, Westbrook was acquired via trade in summer of 2019. Before the trade, he signed a five-year, $206.8 million contract extension with OKC in 2017.

And now, the No.1. Drumroll, please...

1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, $40.2 million

Two MVPs, three championships since 2015, and a brand new arena that could arguably be called “The House That Steph Built”, Curry has more than earned the fruits of his labor. And the fruits are plentiful. Curry signed a five-year, $201.2 million contract in 2017. Curry will be the $40 million man for the entirety of the contract, topping off at over $45 million in 2021. Worth every penny if you ask Warriors fans.

*Credit to the main photos of this article belong to Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press(Stephen Curry), Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press(Paul George), Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press(Harden and Westbrook)