Sports
NBA Players with the Most Career Earnings Since 2000 – Bleacher Report
During the last couple of decades, the NBA has become an especially large business. Media contracts, sponsorships and other revenue streams have led to teams and players collecting many billions of dollars.
And being a superstar player is awfully lucrative.
Since the 2000-01 season through the 2022-23 campaign, eight players have surpassed $300 million in total NBA earnings. That even includes two players who began their careers in the 1990s yet reached the impressive mark in post-2000 seasons anyway.
The list, which unsurprisingly ends with LeBron James, is strictly based on career NBA earnings and in ascending order.
All contract data is from Spotrac.
Earnings Since 2000: $301,660,574
Whether he plays another minute for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2023-24 is an open question, but James Harden’s time with the franchise included him joining the rare $300 million club.
And that journey has been a fascinating one.
Harden began his NBA career on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who dealt him to the Houston Rockets after three seasons. The lefty became an elite scorer in Houston, where he stayed for eight-plus years. Harden has since played for the Brooklyn Nets and Sixers.
To date, Harden collected his highest single-year salary ($35.8 million) while securing first-team All-NBA honors in 2019-20.
Earnings Since 2000: $302,806,362
The greatest shooter in NBA history, Stephen Curry jumped past $300 million near the same day as Harden.
Curry has spent all 14 seasons of his career with the Golden State Warriors, guiding them to four championships along the way. He’s also won a pair of league MVPs, along with a Finals MVP honor in 2022.
Back in 2017, he signed a five-year contract for $201.2 million—the largest deal in NBA history at the time. After the 2022 season, Curry inked a four-year, $215.4 million pact.
He’s set to surpass $400 million in career earnings during the 2024-25 campaign and is due $59.6 million the following year.
Earnings Since 2000: $303,566,235
Despite the first five seasons of his career not counting, Kevin Garnett still matched the criteria in the new millennium.
In fitting fashion, Garnett’s highest-paid season—$28 million in 2003-04—doubled as his MVP-winning year. He averaged career-best totals of 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks that season, along with 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Longevity otherwise carried the Minnesota Timberwolves’ legend and Boston Celtics’ icon beyond $300 million.
Garnett only had a $20-plus million salary in six years of his Hall of Fame career but earned less than $11.5 million just twice in the 2000s.
Note: Garnett’s total career earnings were $334.3 million.
Earnings Since 2000: $310,811,067
Among the 20 seasons of Kobe Bryant’s time in the NBA, 16 of them count within the criteria.
Time for a technicality!
Our sensible yet arbitrary cutoff is why Kobe winds up above Garnett. Although the latter had $334.3 million in his career compared to the former’s $323.3 million, Bryant pocketed about $7 million more after the 2000-01 season began.
He crossed the $20 million threshold in 2008-09 and remained there for eight seasons, peaking at $30.5 million in 2013-14. Kobe ended his prolific career as a five-time NBA champion and 15-time All-NBA selection.
Earnings Since 2000: $336,430,062
Russell Westbrook is a prime example of players who have benefited from the NBA’s enormous revenue growth.
As his rookie deal neared its conclusion, Westbrook signed a five-year max extension worth $78.6 million. His next contract—five seasons for $206.8 million—surpassed Curry as the largest in NBA history.
Good work if you can get it!
Though he’s still pursuing a first championship as of 2023, Westbrook is headed for the Hall of Fame as a nine-time All-NBA choice who secured the league MVP in 2016-17.
Earnings Since 2000: $350,297,591
You see that number. The wildest part, however, is that Kevin Durant has actually left money on the table.
When he left Oklahoma City for Golden State, he didn’t sign max contracts. Durant continued to accept below-market deals in order to keep the Warriors’ core together—and it helped lead to two NBA titles.
Mission accomplished, I would say. He exited both of the Dubs’ championship runs as the Finals MVP, too.
Durant finally inked a max offer in 2019, joining the Brooklyn Nets on a four-year, $164.3 million pact in a sign-and-trade. His latest extension—one signed in Brooklyn before he joined the Phoenix Suns—is worth $194.2 million over four seasons.
Earnings Since 2000: $359,109,419
One of the most bothersome defenders in this era, Chris Paul has parlayed that peskiness into several big paydays.
Following his rookie deal, Paul signed a $63.6 million max contract with the New Orleans Hornets in 2008. He landed a five-year max extension worth $107.3 million on the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013 and followed that with a $159.7 max deal in Houston in 2018.
And those contracts have CP3 on the verge of an exclusive club.
In his debut season with Golden State, he’s set to receive $30.8 million. Because he has a non-guaranteed contract in 2024-25, Paul might need a new deal. Provided it’s worth $10.1 million or more, though, he and Durant will join LeBron in the $400 million club.
Earnings Since 2000: $431,859,107
To absolutely nobody’s shock, LeBron James headlines the list.
Not only is he LeBron freaking James, he’s the longest-tenured player of the 2000s. The King entered the NBA in 2003, so he’s signed nine contracts across his 20 combined seasons on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Cavs again and Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron, as Durant did in Golden State several years later, took a discount with Miami to allow a stronger roster. That strategy paid on-court dividends with two NBA titles, as well.
Over the last decade, James has prioritized short-term contracts that have maximized both his salary and flexibility (read: leverage).
After collecting $47.6 million in 2023-24, he’ll be on the doorstep of a half-billion dollars in NBA earnings. Given that Bronny James could make his NBA debut in 2024-25, there’s a real chance LeBron attains that unparalleled number while playing alongside his son.