Kobe Bryant will earn more than $30MM this season, a salary that’s by far the NBA’s largest in 2013/14. Still, he’s not a member of the exclusive club of players signed to $100MM+ deals. Only five guys are currently on deals that include more than $100MM in base salary, including Chris Paul, who joined the club with his new max deal in July.
LeBron James is fittingly a part of the club, along with the other two members of the Heat’s power trio. Still, none of them touch Joe Johnson‘s staggering $123,658,089 contract that he signed under the old collective bargaining agreement, which allowed for six-year deals. That’s not a bad take for a player who’s only appeared on one All-NBA team during his 12-year career.
Johnson’s teammate Deron Williams ($98,772,325) and fellow New Yorker Amar’e Stoudemire ($99,743,996) fall just beneath the threshold. If Paul George and John Wall qualify for the 30% max on their recently signed extensions, they’ll likely fall a few million dollars shy of the nine-figure mark, too, barring a unforeseen jump in maximum salaries next July.
Here’s the complete $100MM+ club, as it stands now:
- Joe Johnson, Nets ($123,658,089) — re-signed with the Hawks in 2010 to a six-year contract for the max.
- Chris Bosh, Heat ($109,837,500) — signed-and-traded to the Heat in 2010 to a six-year contract.
- LeBron James, Heat ($109,837,500) — signed-and-traded to the Heat in 2010 to a six-year contract.
- Dwyane Wade, Heat ($107,565,000) — re-signed with the Heat in 2010 to a six-year contract.
- Chris Paul, Clippers ($107,343,475) — re-signed with the Clippers in July to a five-year contract for the max.
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