Highest Paid NBA Players 2025-26 Season

The highest paid NBA players for the 2025-26 season including salaries and endorsement earnings. Who earns the most on and off the court?

Top NBA Salaries 2025-26

The NBA salary landscape has reached unprecedented levels in the 2025-26 season, with the league's new media rights deal pushing the salary cap to $141 million per team. Stephen Curry leads all players with a base salary of $55.8 million, making him the highest-paid player in NBA history on a single-season basis. Nikola Jokic follows at $51.4 million after signing a supermax extension with Denver. Giannis Antetokounmpo earns $48.8 million in Milwaukee, while Joel Embiid collects $47.6 million in Philadelphia. LeBron James, in his 22nd season at age 41, still commands $44.5 million with the Lakers. The supermax contract mechanism, which allows teams to offer up to 35% of the salary cap to qualifying veterans, has created a tier of players earning more than $45 million annually. This was unthinkable just five years ago when the highest salary was $34 million. Check our Rankings page for the complete list of top-earning athletes across all major sports leagues worldwide.

Endorsements Change the Picture

While NBA salaries are enormous, endorsement income often exceeds on-court earnings for the biggest stars. LeBron James earns an estimated $75 million annually from endorsements with Nike, AT&T, and other partners — nearly double his NBA salary. His lifetime Nike deal, reportedly worth over $1 billion, remains the most lucrative athlete endorsement in history. Stephen Curry's Under Armour deal plus his other partnerships generate approximately $50 million in annual endorsement income. Giannis Antetokounmpo has become a global marketing powerhouse, earning $40 million from Nike and various international brands. The emerging endorsement king is Victor Wembanyama, whose combination of unprecedented size, skill, and charisma has attracted $30 million in annual endorsements after just his second NBA season. Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum each earn approximately $25 million in endorsements. The total earnings picture — salary plus endorsements — makes LeBron the highest-earning NBA player at approximately $120 million for the 2025-26 season.

How NBA Salaries Compare Globally

NBA players are the highest-paid athletes per capita of any major sport. The average NBA salary in 2025-26 is $11.5 million, compared to $4.9 million in MLB, $3.4 million in the Premier League, and $3.2 million in the NFL. However, NFL rosters are much larger (53 vs 15), so NFL teams actually spend more on total payroll. Globally, only a handful of soccer players (Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Haaland) earn more than top NBA players when combining salary and endorsements. The NBA's global growth, particularly in Asia and Europe, continues to drive revenue and salary growth. The league projects revenue of $14 billion for the 2025-26 season, with international revenue growing 15% annually. See our Billionaire Rankings to compare how athlete earnings stack up against the world's wealthiest individuals.

The Economics Behind the $141 Million Salary Cap

The NBA salary cap reaching $141 million per team for the 2025-26 season is the direct result of the new media rights deal signed in 2024 that brought NBC and Amazon Prime Video back into the basketball broadcast ecosystem. Understanding the math reveals why player salaries jumped this year specifically.

The new media rights package is worth approximately $76 billion over 11 years, roughly $7 billion per year on average. This compares to the previous package of approximately $24 billion over 9 years (about $2.7 billion per year). The increase, divided across 30 NBA teams, adds approximately $145 million per team per year in incremental revenue. Under the collective bargaining agreement, players receive 51 percent of basketball-related income, which means roughly $74 million per team flows directly into the salary cap formula. The cap rose from $123 million (2024-25 season) to $141 million (2025-26) — a $18 million jump in a single season, the largest year-over-year increase in NBA history.

The effect on individual contracts is dramatic. A player on the maximum salary tier (35 percent of the cap for 10+ year veterans) sees their max salary jump from approximately $43 million to $49 million for new contracts signed under the new cap. This is why Stephen Curry $55.8 million salary is possible — he is the highest-paid player partly because he was eligible for the supermax extension signed at the new cap level.

The broader implication is that player salaries in major US sports are now structurally indexed to streaming and broadcast competition. Amazon willingness to pay for live sports inventory is the underlying economic driver of the $55.8 million Curry contract. The next NBA media deal in 2035 will reset the math again, almost certainly upward, as long as live sports remain the most valuable inventory in television.

FAQ

Q: Who is the highest paid NBA player in 2025-26?

A: Stephen Curry leads with a base salary of $55.8 million. When including endorsements, LeBron James earns the most total income at approximately $120 million.

Q: How does the NBA salary cap work?

A: The salary cap ($141M in 2025-26) is a soft cap, meaning teams can exceed it using various exceptions (Bird rights, mid-level exception). Teams exceeding the luxury tax threshold ($170M) pay a penalty tax on every dollar over the line.

Q: Do NBA rookies earn a lot?

A: First overall picks earn approximately $12-13 million in their first season under the rookie scale. This is well below their market value but keeps costs manageable for teams. Stars earn significantly more after their rookie contracts end.