The business of basketball has never been bigger. The 2025-26 NBA season sees the salary cap sitting at approximately $154.6 million per team — up roughly 10% year-on-year, driven by the league’s landmark 11-year, $76 billion television and media rights deal. Sixty NBA players are set to earn at least $30 million in salary alone this season, compared to 35 in the NFL and just 13 in MLB, according to Sportico.
But base salary is only part of the story. The NBA’s biggest stars operate as global brands with multiple endorsements and sneaker royalties that can dwarf what their teams pay them. The average NBA salary in 2025-26 is $11.2 million, roughly 188 times the U.S. median household income.
Here is the definitive breakdown of the ten highest-paid NBA players in 2025-26, by total earnings.
1. Stephen Curry — Golden State Warriors
Salary: $59.6 million | Endorsements: ~$100 million
By base salary alone, Stephen Curry is the highest-paid player in the NBA — and at $59.6 million, the highest single-season salary in league history. It is the ninth consecutive season he has led the league in playing salary. His Under Armour deal, which includes a lifetime contract and equity stake in the brand, accounts for the bulk of endorsement earnings that estimates at around $100 million this season, pushing his total well above LeBron’s when on-court pay is the primary measure.
Curry and Durant join James in the $1 billion career earnings club this season.
2. LeBron James — Los Angeles Lakers
Salary: $52.6 million | Endorsements: ~$85 million
LeBron James has been the NBA’s highest-paid player in 12 of the past 13 seasons — the only exception being 2024-25, when a one-time boost from Stephen Curry’s Under Armour extension nudged Curry ahead. He reclaimed the crown this season. At 40, James remains the only active NBA player for whom off-court earnings exceed his team salary every single year — a streak that has run unbroken since he was drafted first overall in 2003.
His Nike lifetime deal, estimated to be worth over $1 billion in total, remains the anchor of an endorsement empire that also includes Beats by Dre, PepsiCo, Walmart, and equity stakes across sports, media, and tech. James’s estimated career earnings from salary and endorsements will surpass $1 billion by the end of this season — making him, alongside Curry and Durant, one of only three NBA players to reach that threshold while still active.
3. Kevin Durant — Houston Rockets
Salary: $53.3 million | Endorsements: ~$55 million
According to Spotrac’s salary database, Durant’s $53.2 million base salary places him ninth in the league for 2025-26, the final year of a four-year, $194 million contract signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021. A new deal with the Houston Rockets, agreed after his trade from Phoenix, begins next season. At 36, Durant remains one of the most efficient scorers in the league.
Off the court, Durant’s Boardroom media company, Nike deal, and wide endorsement portfolio keep him among the NBA’s top three total earners.
4. Joel Embiid — Philadelphia 76ers
Salary: $55.2 million | Endorsements: ~$45 million
Joel Embiid’s $55.2 million base salary ties him with Nikola Jokić for second-highest in the league, according to Spotrac’s salary rankings — reflecting the identical supermax structure both centres signed. His contract with Philadelphia runs through 2029, with over $176 million guaranteed remaining.
The 2023 MVP and perennial All-Star centre has built a significant endorsement portfolio despite missing large stretches of games through injury — his Nike deal, New Balance partnership, and various consumer brand agreements keep him among the highest total earners in the league regardless of availability.
5. Nikola Jokić — Denver Nuggets
Salary: $55.2 million | Endorsements: ~$40 million
Nikola Jokić signed a five-year, $264 million supermax extension with Denver in 2022 that makes him one of the two highest-paid players by base salary in the league. The three-time MVP — widely considered the most dominant player of his generation — has historically been one of the NBA’s most underpaid stars relative to his on-court impact.
The supermax corrected that. His endorsement portfolio remains modest by the standards of the top five, with deals primarily through Nike and a handful of European brands, but his salary alone places him firmly in the upper tier of total earners.
6. Jayson Tatum — Boston Celtics
Salary: $53.1 million | Endorsements: ~$37 million
Jayson Tatum’s 2025-26 salary is the first year of a five-year, $313 million contract — the largest in NBA history by total value. The cruel irony is that he will collect the full $53.1 million this season without playing a single game, having torn his Achilles tendon during the 2025 NBA playoffs.
At 27, Tatum’s earning trajectory is pointing upward: his Jordan Brand ambassadorship recently added Vertex Pharmaceuticals to an endorsement roster built around his profile.
7. Giannis Antetokounmpo — Milwaukee Bucks
Salary: $54.1 million | Endorsements: ~$35 million
The Greek Freak’s $54.1 million base salary, from a three-year, $175.4 million contract signed in October 2023, places him among the league’s top earners. As the anchor of Milwaukee’s championship window alongside Damian Lillard, Antetokounmpo’s global profile, built on two MVPs and an NBA title in 2021, underpins a Nike deal and international commercial appeal that few players can match.
His endorsement base is growing steadily as the NBA expands aggressively into European markets where he carries particular cultural significance.
8. Anthony Edwards — Minnesota Timberwolves
Salary: $45.6 million | Endorsements: ~$20 million
At 24, Anthony Edwards is the youngest member of the NBA’s top-ten earners by more than two years — and by some margin the most interesting case study in the list.
Edwards led the Timberwolves to back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, and Adidas has pushed him aggressively as the centerpiece of its basketball marketing. Sprite, Fanatics, Chipotle, Bose, Hisense, Call of Duty, and Panini round out an endorsement roster that reflects his emergence as the most likely candidate to carry the “face of the NBA” mantle.
9. Jaylen Brown — Boston Celtics
Salary: $53.1 million | Endorsements: ~$25 million
Jaylen Brown’s supermax extension — five years, $285 million — made him one of the most debated contracts in recent NBA history at signing. His 2025-26 salary ties him with Tatum and Booker at third in the league by base pay.
On the court, Brown was the 2024 Finals MVP and continued his All-Star form in 2025-26. His endorsement book, anchored by New Balance and a growing list of consumer brand deals, is expanding as his profile rises.
10. Devin Booker — Phoenix Suns
Salary: $53.1 million | Endorsements: ~$20 million
Devin Booker has spent his entire ten-year career with Phoenix, and the Suns have rewarded that loyalty with successive supermax extensions. Booker agreed in July to a two-year, $145 million contract extension with the franchise through the 2029-30 season, at the highest annual salary in NBA history.
His 2025-26 base salary of $53.1 million, per Spotrac, ties him with Jaylen Brown for tenth in the league. His endorsement portfolio, led by Nike and a range of lifestyle brands, is solid if not yet at the level of the top five.
Why NBA salaries are at historic highs
The surge in NBA player salaries is not arbitrary. Under the collective bargaining agreement, players are entitled to 51% of basketball-related income — and that income has exploded. The NBA’s new 11-year, $76 billion television and media rights deal, which began influencing cap calculations from 2025-26, is the single biggest driver. As revenues rise, the cap rises, and maximum contracts — which are calculated as a percentage of the cap — rise with them.
