It’s not saying much that NBA players make a lot of money for playing basketball. Between their salaries to bonuses to sponsorships to investments, NBA players have a lot of discretional money to buy multiple cars, several homes, start to play slots online for real money, invest in fast food franchises or tech start-ups. Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can get you a lot of other stuff.
In fact, a first year bench player signed to an NBA contract earns approximately $900,000 for the season. That’s a player you probably don’t even know the name of.
Now that’s an unimaginable yearly salary to 99.9% of the world’s population, but that’s just scratching the surface. As with most careers, the more-talented you are and the more experience you have, the more money you make. With the biggest NBA superstars, they can make upwards of $50 million a year on top of their salaries.
Which NBA players made the most money on shoe deals?
For many of the league’s biggest stars, the money they can make from signature shoe endorsements in one year is exponentially more than a “normal” working person earns throughout a 40-year career.
We were curious as to which NBA players (retired or active) have the richest NBA shoe contracts. Many NBA stars sign multi-year contracts, so we’ve listed them out on a per-year, annualized basis for 2021.
| Rank | Player | Brand | Per Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Jordan | Jordan | $150M |
| 2 | LeBron James | Nike | $32M |
| 3 | Kevin Durant | Nike | $28M |
| 4 | Stephen Curry | Under Armour | $20M |
| 5 | James Harden | Adidas | $14M |
| 6 | Zion Williamson | Jordan | $12M |
| 7 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Nike | $12M |
| 8 | Russell Westbrook | Jordan | $11M |
| 9 | Kyrie Irving | Nike | $11M |
| 10 | Derrick Rose | Adidas | $11M |
| 11 | Damian Lillard | Adidas | $10M |
| 12 | Klay Thompson | Anta | $8M |
(h/t Sportico)
As you can see, it comes as no surprise that Michael Jordan still tops the list and by a significant margin. The legend is the only non-active player to make the list. And his reportedly $150 million a year he earns through his eponymous brand and Nike dwarfs that of the LeBron James’ deal with Nike at a relatively paltry 32 million. Kevin Durant and Nike are third on the list at 28 million a year and Steph Curry’s deal with Under Armour nets the Golden State Warrior a cool $20 million annually. Adidas’ $14 million dollar relationship with James Harden rounds out the top five.
Where’s Kobe?
No doubt that the late Kobe Bryant would be near the top of this list, so what’s up? To catch you up, earlier this year Nike and Bryant’s estate couldn’t come to an agreement. Kobe’s wife Vanessa Bryant made an official statement that they would not be renewing their Nike contract in mid-April 2021. That ended nearly a 20 year relationship and thus he isn’t included in the list above.
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