Top 10 richest NBA players alive [2025 NBA wealth ranking]

Thanks to his three-point shooting, which has transformed basketball forever, Steph Curry is crafting a capital myth for diminutive players with his net worth of $240 million and lifetime earnings of over $800 million. Being the tenth richest NBA player, his narrative shows that the parabola of wealth can be endless when precise shooting meets business acumen.

Curry's salary path itself represents a correction of the history of NBA value perception. He signed a five-year, $201 million "super top salary" in 2017, becoming the first player in NBA history to earn more than $40 million annually.

In 2009, he signed with the Warriors for a "bargain price" of $12.7 million over four years and was even classified by many commentators as the "least valuable rookie". But by the 2023–2024 season, Curry's 4-year, $215 million contract extension (signed in 2021) had practically erased the income differential from his early years as "cheap labour".

Still, what really changed Steph Curry's financial destiny was his clever use of the payment structure. When Nike lost him in 2013 because of a "lack of sincerity in their offer", Curry decided to negotiate a long-term contract with Under Armour (UA), with equity participation, holding shares as president of the "Curry Brand". 

Steph Curry's contract with UA is not only an endorsement but also a capital alliance—he not only receives independent operating rights through the 'Curry Brand' sub-brand, venturing into women's sports and youth training markets, but also receives a share of the sales from his signature shoe line 'Curry' series.

Also included in Curry's endorsement portfolio are cars (Nissan), finance (JPMorgan Chase), and even the Japanese e-commerce behemoth Rakuten, all amounting to an annual income of more than $50 million.

The most disruptive feature in Steph Curry's asset collection is his takeover of the "non-basketball audience". In 2018, he partnered the golf simulator Full Swing, attracting tonnes of esports aficionados.

Curry's capacity to break boundaries across multiple fields has helped him to project his own brand value at $420 million, much above his net worth. He has made investments in Tonal, Mos and Guild Education, and founded sports/entertainment media company SC30 Media.

His real estate approach centres on the "family ecosystem", owning a vacation home on Maui, Hawaii, and a multimillion-dollar mansion complex in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even his production firm, SC30 Media, conveniently combines commercial IP with daily life using his own kitchen, to create the cookery show "About Time". 

By turning his $140 million NBA career earnings into a symphony of art, real estate, and fashion, former "Jordan successor" Grant Hill has built a wealth empire of $250 million. Hill's status as the "classical pianist" of the capital world in basketball shapes his ranking as the ninth richest NBA player alive.

Hill's history is one of setbacks and atonement. He signed a 7-year, $45 million contract with the Pistons in 1996, but a devastating ankle injury almost rendered useless the 7-year, $92.8 million contract he signed when he moved to the Magic in 2000.

His five-year, ~$15 million "retirement contract" with the Suns marked a turning point, as he would invest a significant portion of this pay towards the Centennial Yard reconstruction in downtown Atlanta, and 10 years later, property values in that region shot skyward by three hundred per cent.

Kicking off in 1994 as a 5-year, $45 million contract with Fila, Hill's commercial awakening peaked in a 2018 lifetime contract requiring him to help revive his retro GH series trainers with the brand, thereby injecting Italian fashion DNA into sports equipment. 

Given he owns more than 120 pieces by black painters, including Kerry James Marshall and Amy Sherald, his art collection is perhaps the most distinctive portfolio in the NBA.

Despite being the first overall pick in the 1984 draft ahead of Jordan, Olajuwon's total career salary was just $103 million (over 18 seasons). But with the acumen and discipline of a Nigerian immigrant, Olajuwon, the "Dream Shake" in the real estate market, has become one of the NBA's richest-ever sportsmen, churning out a $300 million net worth from Houston's "Concrete Empire".

Like Michael Jordan, Olajuwon began on a 6-year, $6 million rookie contract with the Rockets, but by the end of his career, his "retirement contract” of 2 years, $12 million in 2001, was only half of Jordan's annual pay at the same period, indicating a significant chasm in their valuation.

Still, it was exactly this "meagre" income that he turned into the starting point for real estate investments. By the time he retired in 2002, he had quietly purchased twelve downtown Houston parking lots.

Kevin Durant, the seventh richest NBA player, is the "Precision Killer" of the stock market. With a total career salary of at least $420 million, one of the highest in NBA history, the two-time FMVP winner has pushed his net worth to $300 million via media and technological assets, thus embodying the NBA player with the most Silicon Valley spirit.

Durant's pay history practically reflects the changes in the NBA salary ceiling over time. His rookie contract in 2007 was only $19.5 million for four years, but signing a two-year, $54.3 million "pay cut" contract after joining the Warriors in 2016 cleared space for his future business empire.

Kevin Durant is the second player in history to earn a single-season income over $50 million (with a salary of $51.65 million for the 2024–2025 season), having signed a 4-year, $194 million contract with the Nets in 2021.

But what really distinguishes him from his peers is his $300 million lifetime Nike contract, which includes a $50 retirement payment and made him the third player after Michael Jordan and LeBron James to be granted such terms by the shoe manufacturer. 

He established Thirty Five Ventures (co-founded with Rich Kleiman), which can be considered a "Silicon Valley scout”.

Through this arm, Durant has made investments in the food delivery platform Postmates (acquired by Uber for $2.65 billion in 2020), the fintech company Robinhood, the spare change investment platform Acorns (valued at $2 billion), Lenda, and Sparta Science.

He also aggressively globalised his sports investment by buying shares in the French Ligue 1 behemoths Paris Saint-Germain (estimated at $4.4 billion by Forbes in 2023) from the Arctos Sports Partners fund.

Durant launched the media company Boardroom in 2019, fundamentally altering the narrative power of sportsmen. Through podcasts, data analysis tools, and NFT releases, the platform developed a "sports-tech-entertainment" ecosystem and are partners with Apple's TV+.

Although dubbed the "Twitter Warrior,” this approach of turning personal IP into media infrastructure can be considered more of a Zuckerberg-style dimensionality reduction attack than Elon Musk's.

Russell Westbrook, with a commercial empire that has witnessed continuous growth, is both a divisive figure in Los Angeles and the "Swiss Army Knife" of the corporate world thanks to a career that has been full of controversy. With a net worth of $300 million and a combined NBA salary totalling $250 million (over 15 seasons), the iconic triple-double king ranks as the sixth richest NBA player alive.

What really cracked the roof for Westbrook is his nearly compulsive cross-industry business activities off the court. Westbrook was offered a rookie contract valued at just $16.3 million over four years after his signing by the Thunder as the fourth overall choice in the first round in 2008.

But his 5-year, $205 million supermax contract extension, which transferred with his trade to the Thunders, culminated in a peak salary of $44.2 million per year, making him the second player in NBA history to make over $40 million annually.

Still, this "astronomical figure" pales in comparison to his 10-year, $200 million endorsement contract with Jordan Brand; this alone brings him $20 million yearly, more than most single-season NBA earnings throughout his career.

Fashion is the field where Westbrook's business sense is most firmly ingrained. With workwear designs, he launched his own clothes business, Honour the Gift, in 2017, transforming street culture. Westbrook routinely wore his attire pre-game using a "walking billboard" approach that has seen his endorsement income top $60 million yearly.

His investing approach aligns with his on-court approach: thorough coverage with no holds barred. Russell Westbrook Enterprises has seen him invest in the $750 million short video platform Triller.

In the real estate market, Westbrook owns a complex of office buildings in Oklahoma City generating millions of yearly rental income and a luxury mansion in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angelespurchased for $19.75 million.

The playing career of Vinnie Johnson, the lone hero of the Detroit Pistons, is the perfect example of the blue-collar attitude. Known as "The Microwave" for his "plug-and-play" scoring skills, he helped the Pistons win two titles during his 1981–1991 stint.

However, Vinnie's annual pay never exceeded $800,000, and his whole career income was just commensurate with those of his peers. Still, this "meagre" pay sent him on a high-stakes gamble after retirement and sparked his preoccupation with capital appreciation as he placed all of his assets into the manufacturing sector.

Johnson launched the auto parts company Piston Group in 1995, specialising in fuel systems, electronic components, and interior manufacture.

Through 24-hour manufacturing lines and zero inventory control, he positioned the company as a "fast-response supplier"—meeting urgent orders from General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis—using the tactical thinking sharpened from his NBA training. With 15 locations and 8,300 staff scattered over the United States, Piston Group today generates roughly 2 billion annually.

He also made investments in building 'industrial-residential complexes' in Michigan, offering reasonably priced homes and vocational training for auto workers, thus lowering staff turnover and ensuring government tax benefits. Analysts have labelled this "business-social" dual-benefit paradigm as the "New Detroitism".

Over his 19-season career, the 2.16-metre-tall "Big Shaq" O'Neal earned a total salary of $292 million, but it was his "Happy Business Universe" created following retirement that really ranked him on the NBA rich list. Holding a net worth of $500 million, the four-time champion exemplifies how to convert personal charm into a long-lasting wealth source.

From the 1990s to the 2000s, Shaquille O'Neal's salary path almost represents a microhistory of the NBA economy. Signing a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Lakers in 1996, he became the highest paid player of the 1999/20 NBA season. But the four-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Heat directly set off the salary inflation of the "superstar alliance" era.

These remarkable numbers helped him negotiate a post-retirement annual compensation of $10 million as a commentator on TNT's Inside the NBA, where his media influence surpasses his actual player legacy in the eyes of Gen Z.

Shaquille O'Neal's business partnerships are built on the art of striking opposites. He secured a $15 million multi-year contract with Reebok in 1992 and was rewarded with the "Shaq Attaq" shoe line before serving as the president of the brand's Basketball Operations 31 years later.

The businesses Shaquille sponsored spanned from Pepsi to Icy Hot pain-relieving patches, from NBA 2K game covers to Cadillac vehicles, and even a humorous campaign for Gold Bond powder, garnering over $200 million in total earnings.

This "de-elitisation" endorsement approach perfectly complemented Shaquille's "people's giant" image, thereby generating a special commercial attraction.

Owning many chain restaurants in the food and beverage industry, including 155 Five Guys Burgers, 17 Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and his own brand, Big Chicken (with an emphasis on huge fried chicken burgers), O'Neal's capital layout can be considered as a "cross-industry encyclopaedia." After investing in nine Papa John's locations in Atlanta in 2019, he joined the company's board of directors.

Even more remarkable is Shaquille's tech-savviness, as he bought original Google shares in its early years, was an early Apple investor, and in recent years has supported firms in the smart voice assistant field with some ventures delivering profits over a hundredfold.

O'Neal never limited himself to the field of business. He has 

• put out four musical albums, including "Shaq Diesel" from 1993, which is certified platinum;
• appeared as "DJ Diesel" on the main stage of the Tomorrowland electronic music event;
• has a PhD in organisational management from Barry University; and
• is a reserves officer for the Miami Beach Police Department.

LeBron James, the NBA's third richest athlete alive, is the first active player to surpass a net worth of $1 billion. This four-time NBA champion has earned more than $1.6 billion through his career, with only about $480 million of that stemming from his NBA salary.

LeBron James's carefully crafted business ecosystem accounts for the greater portion of his $1.2 billion net worth, which makes him the wealthiest player currently active in the NBA.

Considered risky at the time, LeBron at 18 years old, signed a 7-year, $90 million contract with Nike in 2003. However, twelve years later, this contract was upgraded to a "lifetime agreement", with an estimated worth of more than $1 billion, among the most lucrative endorsement deals in sports history.

Unlike Jordan, LeBron included creative autonomy in the contract and personally oversaw the creation of the "LeBron" sneaker series.

Along from Nike, LeBron's partnerships with Coca-Cola (Smartwater endorsement), Kia Motors (advertising expenses in the tens of millions) and Beats headphones (over $30 million profit from the 2014 acquisition) combined provide over $700 million in endorsement income.

LeBron's commercial vision has long transcended conventional limits for athletes. 2012 saw him and Maverick Carter, his partner, invest less than $1 million in the Blaze Pizza franchise. Ten years later the brand was worth more than $1 billion, and his 10% share had grown a hundredfold.

Deeply entwining business success with social responsibility, his company, SpringHill Entertainment, created "Space Jam: A New Legacy" (with a worldwide box office of $163.7 million) and the documentary "I Promise", which chronicles the founding of the "I Promise" school in his hometown of Akron.

More incredible still is LeBron James's 2% share—worth around $120 million—in the Premier League's Liverpool Football Club through his business LRMR, globalising his sports investments.

LeBron's money management approach is known as the "operating system model", as he is no longer satisfied with endorsement deals but instead creates platforms via holding businesses to enable other entrepreneurs.

For instance, in addition to creating content, SpringHill Entertainment creates joint ventures with Warner Bros. and Netflix to nurture various intellectual property ideas.

His foundation funds about $8 million yearly in educational aid, and LRMR, founded in 2005, emphasises technological and financial interests, including a share in Fenway Sports Group, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox.

This "capital incubating capital" approach helps him to keep an exponential growth trajectory in his wealth even after retirement, thereby ensuring his eternal place among the NBA's richest.

With his net worth of $1.5 billion, the second-highest in basketball history, Magic Johnson highlights the potential in creating a business ecosystem anchored on community. The legendary Los Angeles Lakers point guard signed a 25-year, $25 million "one-club contract" in 1984, which, although already a startling amount at the time, was never enough to position him as a centimillionaire, let alone a billionaire.

But after retiring, Johnson built a vast empire spanning real estate, food and beverage, technology, and sports thanks to his sharp business acumen and great involvement with minority communities.

At his peak, Magic Johnson landed long-term endorsement deals with companies like PepsiCo during his remarkable career, earning around $60 million, before a publicly announced HIV diagnosis terminated his career in 1991.

His early Starbucks investment in 1998 marked his greatest milestone, as it not only helped the company grow into African American regions, but he eventually earned roughly $75 million in profit via an equity exit.

Rooted in "serving neglected communities", Johnson's business philosophy has seen him invest in and develop dozens of commercial real estate projects across the United States, including shopping centres, cinemas (pioneering the "luxury reclining + dining service" model), and fitness centres, under Magic Johnson Enterprises. For instance, his company, Magic Johnson Enterprises, focusing on metropolitan core areas, formerly oversaw over 110 Starbucks outlets.

Magic Johnson also briefly owned the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks and is a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, closely tying his neighbourhood revitalisation with sports investment.

Nevertheless, little known is that the core of Johnson's wealth is sourced from the insurance sector. He owns a sizable portion of EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, whose annuity business gives him consistent cash flow and asset management.

He has also entered the technology industry recently, supporting Johnson Energy Storage, a solid-state battery startup, thus proving a futuristic disposition towards new energy.

Johnson's successes go much beyond numbers of riches. By means of his foundation, he raises tens of millions of dollars globally in the battle against AIDS.

He became one of the few sportsmen to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 for his "outstanding contributions in the fields of sports, business, and public welfare".

Legendary Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan is the NBA's richest player of all time, having turned his personal brand into a net worth of $3.5 billion. Though his overall NBA salary was only roughly $94 million (67% of which came from the "last three-peat" period from 1996 to 1998), Jordan's business strategy and investment acumen over the twenty-plus years following his retirement was the actual propeller that drove him to the pinnacle of generational wealth.

Jordan started his endorsement empire in 1984 with a "gamble" with Nike. Being a rookie in the league at the time, he signed a contract with a five per cent sales commission and an annual income of $500,000 that resulted in the "Air Jordan" series that subsequently rewrote the history of footwear. Jordan's mother, Deloris Jordan, was instrumental behind this choice, fervently instructing her son to pick Nike's profit-sharing offer over Adidas's fixed pay.

This choice has now proven a textbook case in business: Nike has made over $100 billion from the Air Jordan series, while Jordan personally stands to gain over $1 billion from it—with $256 million projected in 2022 alone. More than a sneaker, Air Jordan is today a cultural phenomenon.

From starring in the film "Space Jam" to his close connections with rap culture, Jordan's brand worth is calculated by Forbes to be over $3 billion.

Alongside Nike, Jordan has also long supported Gatorade, McDonald's "McJordan" burger, Hanes knickers and MCI Communications, with total endorsement earnings of $1.5 billion.

Jordan has equally remarkable capital operation skills. He bought a majority share in the Charlotte Hornets for $275 million in 2010 and sold it for $3 billion in 2023, thus profiting around $2.7 billion from just this alone.

His investment tentacles extend from luxury vehicle dealerships in Florida to the restaurant business (steakhouses in Chicago, Miami, and Washington), film and entertainment (23XI Racing NASCAR team), and even the drinks sector (Cincoro tequila brand).

Michael Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on November 22, 2016, the highest civilian honour in the United States.

Through the sale of retro trainers and the global popularity of the documentary "The Last Dance", Michael Jordan continues to strengthen his personal IP and position as the NBA's richest-ever athlete even after retiring for many years.

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