Highest-paid NBA players by season
Player Salary Team
Kobe Bryant $ 30,453,805 Los Angeles Lakers
Dirk Nowitzki $ 20,907,128 Dallas Mavericks
Amar ' e Stoudemire $ 19,948,799 New York Knicks
Joe Johnson $ 19,752,645 Brooklyn Nets
Carmelo Anthony $ 19,444,503 New York Knicks
Pau Gasol $ 19,285,850 Los Angeles Lakers
Chris Bosh $ 19,067,500 Miami Heat
LeBron James $ 19,067,500 Miami Heat
Dwyane Wade $ 18,673,000 Miami Heat
Chris Paul $ 18,668,431 Los Angeles Clippers
2012–2013
The highest-paid NBA players by season has recently eclipsed $40 million. Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94-95 season with a salary of $14,660,000. Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a salary of $18,724,000. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over $20 million and in fact it exceeded $30 million as well in a season; this was a record he had held for 15 years. During the 1997-98 season, Jordan earned $33,140,000, which still stands as the most any NBA player has earned on a 1-year contract. Jordan also holds the record for the second largest 1-year contract at $30,140,000 in the 1996-97 season. Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013-14 season began. LeBron James became the third in the 2016-17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 million per year when he signed a record 5-year contract worth $201 million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017-18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021-22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966. Beginning in the 1984-85 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced. The NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season.