James Harden is now No. 7 all-time in guaranteed career earnings
https://bsky.app/profile/hoopshypeofficial.bsky.social/post/3mtkacpbvmk2c
What’s most surprising to me is that LeBron isn’t number 1
Nah what’s surprising is 8 half billionaires and half of those are Booker, George, Mitchell and Embiid.
Only 4⁄10 are champs and one arguably is a bus rider.
in terms of just the championship seasons, a true hater can argue 2⁄4 are bus riders lol
Anthony Davis ain’t a bus rider. Lakers dont win that chip without him.
You would be a completely delusional hater to call 2020 AD a passenger.
And KD is simply a ringchasing bitch. He was far too important to the warriors dynasty to call him a passenger.
Assuming PG is the bus rider?
Passenger P
PG is not a champ.
In which universe did PG become a champ? Certainly not on this one. Hello multiverse traveler
At least Embiid has an MVP
Pure timing. Guaranteed he dwarfs KD with endorsements etc.
And KD has to split that between his 12 burners.
It’s 13 now cos the last one got exposed
14 at least, he is on threads now.
I’m sure he have at least a burner there.
And LeBron is probably on a prepaid line - so he’s definitely saving a lot more.
L’Endorsements
Why’s he French now lol
LeFrancais
LeBaguette
L’Escargot
LeFrench Fry
Le Bron
And at this level of wealth, the measurements are somewhat speculative.
Plus at some point, what’s an extra $10M to these guys.
Lebron’s just got that side hustle grindset
KD came into the leauge a few years later, and the later u come in higher the contracts are and lebron just took a massive paycut. These top guys will always be making the max so its basically the most recent max players who has played 17+ years who top the list. Bron would be 1 if he didnt want a chance to win a ring this year and got a bag instead
Yeah this isn’t that surprising, LeBron has only been in the league 3 years longer than KD, and league wide salaries were pretty low during those 3 years. He would’ve been way ahead if he never took a paycut, whereas KD has never taken one
KD has taken pay cuts with both the Warriors and the Rockets
True, but still not a $100mil+ paycut like Bron
I thought KD did when he signed w the Dubs
Oh shit you’re right, forgot it was a sign and trade, and then he signed with them again before getting traded to Brooklyn
Lebron only made 17m a year in Miami. These new contracts are fucking insane
2013 Bron is worth a role player today
I think Jakob Poertel earns more today
That’s crazy hahaha wow
didnt he take a pay cut?
He did in Miami and now with Philadelphia
Sacrificed Spotify premium.
LeTeamPlayer
KD also took a significant pay cut in his prime to join the Warriors. LeBron should’ve earned more over his career because he never signed a max or supermax, and instead signed many 1+1 contracts to take advantage of constant salary cap jumps. I think he was hurt by entering the league four years earlier than KD.
He was never signing the big 5 year max deals the other players were. It was always like a 1 year + 1 year player option or 2+1, which doesn’t give you the biggest amount annually as the longer deals. He always wanted the flexibility.
this is just false. It actually generally gives more money per year. Because long term deals only can go up 8% and the cap has generally gone up by 10%. It just doesn’t give long term security.
As far as I’m aware, long term super max deals allow a players salary to be a larger percentage of the cap. Since LeBron wasn’t signing those super max deals he was making less annually than the players who were.
That’s just my understanding and the reason for my comment. I very well may be wrong.
I believe it depends. You can give 8% increases on a long term deal and if the cap only goes up 5% that’s 3% of gravy. In that scenario LeBron doing 1+1s would mean less money. When the cap goes up 9-10% then LeBron would make more.
Genuinely not a serious or common enough difference to care one way or another.
1+1 deals should’ve netted him more money over the course of his career. He earned almost as much as he would have under a max contract, while still being able to take advantage of cap increases each year.
Just from taking a pay cut during them heat years
It’s Donovan Mitchell being on the list for me.
Gonna play another 5 seasons to make sure he is #1
Lebron came in earlier when the salaries were lower, he also took team friendly deals in Miami and Cavs. Back then in 2016 he took 3 years 100 million which was high for then, but nowadays would look low…
Well he did just take like a $45mil paycut. So LeBron should be on top.
It’s similar to how Warren Buffet made roughly 70% of his money since age 75. League salaries have grown exponentially, so LeBron’s early earnings basically don’t matter.
Times have changed, AJ Dysbanta will make more on his rookie contract than prime LeBron did in his 4 years in Miami.
Would have been if he didn’t signed the min this contract
L’Inflation
Bron took real pay cuts for those Miami years.
i remember prime Lebron signing a 3 year extension with the Cavs before going to LA for 99mil.
basically what Harden just signed for.
salary cap is through the roof.
LeBron actually left money on the table a bunch for flexibility. KD and these newer supermax guys just fully maxed out.
Yup. And KD even took a paycut when he turned down that 200M extension offered by the Warriors in 2017 before they gave it to Steph
He really sacrificed a lot during those Heatles years, was being paid like 15M a year iirc
The newer guys make more money on these super maxes/rising salary cap to start out every year they post “so and so has signed the largest contract in NBA history” if there was no cap LeBron probably would be highest paid
Maybe they don’t take inflation into account, which hurts him the most.
What’s more crazy to me is that it will never be him now. We’ve reached the point where he will never make enough to pass KD, and of players on this list I think Booker could possibly pass him.
Did not know Donovan Mitchell has made that much money goddamn
It’s because he just signed a $273m contract extension.
Yeah it always favors players who most recently signed contracts because salaries have been constantly climbing
Lebron, Harden, Durant and Curry who have been been around for a long time actually have gotten paid a fraction of what Embid has gotten paid per game played.
Looking at it this way…. it just feels more bonkers how much wealthy people make in such a short time.
Like I know they don’t just exist during gametime… there’s a lot of work put in-between games. It’s just surprising.
Which is confounding in a lot of ways, but I would have figured Tatum would be the one to reach half a billion from that draft class. I’m too lazy to look it up but I assume something about him being traded allowed for an earlier extension? That or maybe not getting the max years earlier. Idk but it doesn’t make sense given that Tatum I believe still has the largest contract ever.
Tatum extended a year earlier, I suspect Mitchell was already extension eligible but didn’t sign for at least a year which is why he has a 5 year extension and Tatum only signed for 4 a year earlier. The extra year for Mitchell is carrying a lot for this chart
Looked it up for you. Tatum has the current largest contract at \(313m/5 years and Brown is right behind him at \)285m/5 yrs.
Donovan Mitchell having 500ms is the proof the world is fked up
Why do people keep saying dumb stuff like this lol RS Mitchel is a monster
This shit will change faster than any NBA leader board in history for sure. In 10 years 8+/10 names will be different. Morbius Bieber or whoever will be making $80m a year by then and surpass a bill with his second contract
Beard man gets paid
Beard man gets paid even more if Morey didn’t lie (likely #3-5 on the list)
Yeah, but that’s an “unofficial” number
Honestly I love Book staying in PHX and getting his bag. Just wish they could replicate 2021 somehow but that might be the case at the tail end of his career
Maybe a young cast when hes a true OG like Reggie had at the end?
Seems like Phoenix is genuinely good at attracting vets what with cost of living, a (currently) rich owner, and proximity to the cooler but more expensive spots on the west coast
what nba player cares about cost of living >.>
A lot. It’s just not the cost of living me and you care about. It’s mostly taxes, but real estate is a factor too.
Devin Booker makes ~670,000 a game. NBA players are taxed on where they play the games. If that game is in California, he pays a 13.3% jock tax on top of other taxes. If the game is in Arizona it’s around 2.5%. If it’s in Florida it’s zero. If he was playing for a Cali team he would pay an around 5 million more per year in taxes. If he played in Florida he would save about a million.
Also a super huge mansion in Phoenix is probably like a third the price it is in LA or another super high value city.
Reggie went to 5 ECFs before that finals appearance in 2000. And his team was a bunch of nobodys except Mark Jackson and Rik Smits
Dale Davis and Antonio Davis erasure
That’s what I’m envisioning as a best case scenario. This team is interesting but they’re at their absolute best a 6-8 seed. I’m rooting for a lot of guys on the team , even though I’m not a fan.
This organizations refusal to get a real PG is wild. Book had his best years with Rubio and CP3.
Honestly, I just feel like it’s difficult to find that PG with the way the league works. I truly believe it is Collin G though. When he is on he is on and he can be an exceptional play maker. Just need him to not be a super negative on the other end
There’s a fundamental problem with a team having such a highly paid player who can’t be the #1 on a team (was he even 1A in 2021? Some say CP3 was. Which I don’t agree. But at best D Book can be a 1A, needs a 1B)
I think the best players that have been #1s recently, have had to be able to pass effectively. They’ve been PGs or other players that pass, like looking at recent finals MVPs, Jalen Brunson, SGA, Jaylen Brown, Jokic, Curry, Giannis, Bron, Kawhi. I think out of these the only ones that dont pass well are Kawhi and JB, who have great defense instead. So Book needs to up his passing and/or defense.
This reminds me, it was crazy to see PG all of a sudden play like bron in the playoffs against the suns. Book needs some of that Bron / Giannis drive and dish type of shit
The only miracle we can possibly hope for is a couple of our young guys become truly great. Doubt it, but in all honesty its just nice to have a competent team in Arizona that wins more than they lose.
Donovan Mitchell being on here is criminal
KD passing LeBron who played 4 more years is surprising.
KD had the privilege of being a free agent during the cap spike year
Lebron’s also taken his second team-friendly deal now
They were paid much less in the 2000s
Yes but lebron has played in every season that KD has
40 million less this upcoming year, plus it’s “guaranteed salary” so KDhas next year’s 47 mil included as well.
Difference between knowledge and wisdom
KD, Harden and Westbrook have made $1.45 billion combined. The Thunder were never going to be able to keep all three for their entire careers
good thing they traded Harden for Jeremy Lamb and Kevin Martin
Great thing actually
Kawhi would be #1 if we’re not counting being paid under the table
A lot of those players on there weren’t even worth it.
I’m like “only the first three have rings” and KD could have easily not gotten one. Is there a lesson there somewhere?
Lesson here is that NBA championships are actually really fucking hard to come by even for MVP level players.
Stop overpaying players. It’s easy.
Booker is suprising because I think he is barely 30 but not listed is Tobias Harris at \(331 million and Juwan Howard at \)151.8 million in 90’s and 2000’s money. To me the later are the best bag earners relative to talent.
Tobias is an extremely solid basketball player, that’s it
what he isn’t is a flashy superstar, which most fans believes deserves to be PAID big bucks
the fact that he can still score a big contract (good for him) kinda proves teams sees his value
I know as a fellow Pistons fan his value but still his bag as a non all star is something to behold
This whole list will literally be surpassed in the next 4 years.
The new max is so high that the kids just getting into it now are going to shred these numbers.
Booker and Mitchell seem young with very little accomplishments to be up there
It includes future money and they both signed max extensions.
Embiid has an incredible deal for playing 10 games a year
Obviously exaggeration. But over 500M for less than 500 games is absurd
To be fair, he still have 3 years left in his contact.
He is a 490 games now, will he reach 600?
Embiid really swindled the Sixers out of more than $1m per game played 😅 with no conference finals appearances 😂
How is Devin Booker 4? That’s crazy.
Only way we can keep a star is throwing money at them? Seems very obvious to me
Where Kawhi?
This doesn’t include endorsement deals and no show tree planting deals
“When it comes to legalized bank robbing, I’m the best.” - Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell is at least consistently great in the regular season and is deserving of perennial all-star nominations for 7 years running now.
Booker is straight up a fringe all-star at best right now. He hasn’t made an All-NBA 1st or 2nd team since 2021, whereas Mitchell has done 3 of the last 4 seasons (and might have been 4⁄4 if he played more games the one year he missed)
casual talk… he’s better than some people on the list
Wow, and 4-10 have a total of 1 ring.
Does Steph surpass KD?
This is nothing against the players but this is a disgusting amount of money. Like a better society wouldn’t have this insane disparity imo,
but a worse society would just have all this money going into the owners pockets who deserve it way way less
6 out of the 10 having zero rings should tell you all you need to know about the max/super maxing players.
Crazy logic. Harden probably has a ring if the warriors don’t exist. Booker played another top 5 position player in the finals. PG was one of the few to challenge LeBron in the east and went to the West and was a MVP caliber player.
Embid as much as I hate watching him play was/is one of the most talented modern bigs to touch the floor.
The absolute scam that is playoff p at number 5.
Embiid has played like half of his playable games and never gotten out the 2nd round
This how I know I ain’t gonna ever be in the big leagues. Like if I had 500 million I’d buy some turkey bacon then some flooring for my mama
Wild how few of these guys have ever won a ring but this is provably part of the cause
Lol Joel at only 490 games.
Paul George coasting from his 360 dunk on that one game.
Embiid playing more than 400 games is impressive 😂
If Jokic signs after this upcoming season as he has indicated that he will (by which time he will have \(360m in career earnings) he'll be eligible for a 5-year \)360m contract.
$720m
Crazy how much this has changed over the years. I remember when KG and Kobe being the first ones to reach $300M total was noteworthy, and now guys are passing their career earnings with a single contact.
At least with the top three, you look at that and think “that makes sense”….
Good for James
Yeah for sure, I was worried he didn’t have enough money.
Good for strippers.
Def did not expect AD to be Top 10
Funny that it lists him with more seasons than Dame despite being from the same 2012 draft lol. Must be counting Dame not playing this last season because of injury (even though he still got paid). Still has played in 100 more games than AD despite missing this entire season
Devin Booker and Paul George lol
Embiid and AD are getting paid to be in street clothes for half the season every year.
Donovan Mitchell?
yes…
Mitchell being number 6 amongst players that have been in the league 10+ seasons in wild good for him.
how?
Embiid has to have the record of pay per game. Even before the past few years, he’s only played two years with at least 65 games.
Devin Booker is a bag getter
These numbers look so absurd to me… like I’m not even gonna make 1% of that amount in my entire life.
Not with that attitude. Can always sell hole by the Arby’s
You’re also not in the top 0.01% in your field. So there’s that. Now go buy your $300 game ticket in the upper level behind the stanchion.
The worst part is the majority of the top 10 have never even won a chip
Donovan Mitchell lmao
Embiid and Davis are criminals lmao.
I’m shocked by how fast Devin booker and Donovan Mitchell jumped ahead of him.
PG over him is crazy
I think Wemby will be the first player to earn a billion over his career if he plays around 18-20 seasons.
9 rings
In turn, strippers are as well.
Absolutely wild that Booker is fourth and will probably play several more years. He’s fairly easily the worst player on the list yet manages to get almost zero hate at all.
All time or current? Because all time Booker is better than Mitchell and maybe eventually PG/Dame, and currently he’s easily better than Dame, PG, and Anthony Davis.
He definitely isn’t the worst on this list, what
Paul George being paid half a billion dollars for what I dont know, crazy.
Looks like some teams didnt get there moneys worth
Well he’s the 4th best player on that list so..
Donovan Mitchell 6th all-time before he turns 30? Dang… I had no idea he was that high up.
I also didnt realize that Devin Booker was also still under 30.
Dammn
His agent is the generational talent.
Imagine how much the owners are making of they can pay players that much 😂😂
Real Dawg is Kawhi.
Amazing that a bus rider is no 1 on the list
James is a good way to secure a playoff spot. Then hoping the rest of the squad can carry him throughout the postseason.
how the hell did donovan mitchell get to 6
In just 10 years this list will be pretty different, only Mitchell and Booker will reasonably still be on it (unless mad people keep embiid and AD around with max deals)
Donovan Mitchell and Devin booker are 29 btw. They’ll probably be around $900m by the time their careers are over if they remain healthy and productive.
Paul George having the Celtics symbol really fucked with me for a second
Sheesh Booker has a long time left
Pg at 5 all time for doing absolutely nothing 💀
511 million dollars and decided 17 years ago he wasn’t going to learn how to score off ball. A true winning player that I’d definitely want on my team.
Crazy that Cleveland has paid for 3 of the top 7.
This is the definition of baller
Crazy value teams are/were getting from Lebron. He dwarf each and everyone of these dudes in games and minutes played with total minutes at 73476. Closest is KD at 51011, the gap in minutes is close to total minutes played of D Mitch(23500+) lol. Curry is at 42077
Can’t buy a championship though
It would be interesting to see these numbers adjusted for inflation, otherwise comparing players from even 10 or 15 years ago makes no sense.
Wow no Giannis is surprising
Besides the top 3, the rest are insanely overpaid, maybe 75% overpaid
AND no CHIP to show for it…Cavs will be bounced once again from the playoffs early round or playin
..and ow much of that was spent at the titty bar?
That’s a lot of college tuition paid
Will he ever be clutch?
Suns are so dumb lmao. All they money on Booker to not winning anything 🤣
But really it’s only like $250M after taxes.
/s
Six of these guys have never won a ring. And say what you want but KD might never have gotten a ring if he didn’t join the Warriors. Also extra crazy to think back when LeBron joined Miami they signed for like 20m a year. What a boom since then.
Donovan Mitchell is going to be the second highest paid all time at some point. Insane
s/o to Paul George. also wonder where Kawhi will land here if we take into account the circumvented money.