NBA Players Salaries Per Game, Month, Week, Minute, and Second
Whether you believe NBA players are overpaid or not, the truth of the matter is that most NBA players are paid a healthy salary per season. And as compared to other American sports, NBA players definitely get paid within the top quartile of all athletes.
Similarly, with the average NBA salary standing in at $7.5 million for the 2022-23 season, the question as to whether or not NBA players are overpaid begins to seem a bit obvious.
However, wanting to dig a bit deeper into payment structure of NBA players, we are going to look to see just what the top NBA players’ salaries are per game, week, minute, and second.
For this article, we will be reviewing the top paid players currently in the NBA and review the earnings on an annual, game, week, minute, and second basis. This article will be focusing exclusively on the regular season and will not include playoff pay or NBA Finals bonuses.
When do NBA Players Get Paid
Contrary to popular belief, NBA players are not paid after each game. Rather, NBA players are paid according to the league’s standard paydays, which are on the 1st and 15th of each month, beginning on November 15th.
This default paycheck system amounts to 24 paychecks over a one calendar year period.
However, as with many things in the NBA, there are a few clauses which can affect the total pay a player receives within their paycheck. While we won’t consider these clauses into our calculation of how much an NBA player makes per game, it is some insightful information.
Firstly, an NBA player can be paid a portion of their total contract as soon as it is signed.
Secondly, an NBA player can be paid an advance on their salary, which is limited to 80% of the player’s guaranteed salary or 50% of their base salary, whichever is less.
Similarly, an NBA player may receive a loan against their salary. This loan must be repaid from their salary and each loan cannot exceed the individual player’s remaining amount of guaranteed salary for that season.
However, the loan can be repaid over the remaining seasons that are fully guaranteed.
And lastly, an NBA player can defer up to 25% of their compensation. This deferred compensation will be paid after May 1st of the following season and is included in the team salary in which it is earned and not the season in which it is paid out.
Do NBA Players Get Paid During the Playoffs?
As mentioned above, NBA players are paid on their entire salary throughout the year. These payments are broken down into 24 individual paychecks, which are paid to each player on the 1st and 15th of each month.
However, an NBA player on an NBA team which reaches the NBA playoffs is also awarded an additional bonus payment.
Currently, the NBA has set aside a sum of $23,287,260 for NBA playoff teams. This amount is split amongst teams as they advance through the playoffs.
Team’s that qualify for the NBA playoffs will receive $347,545 to be split amongst the members of the team.
Reaching the second round of the playoffs qualifies those teams for an additional $413,534 and conference finalists receiving an additional $683,363.
However, by making the NBA Finals, the losing team will be awarded an additional $2,732,699, while the winning team will be awarded an additional $4,124,054.
How We Determined Pay By Game, Month, Week, Minute, and Second
While there are a variety of ways in which one could determine the total pay of an NBA player by game, month, week, minute, and second, we’ve decided to go with a more straightforward approach.
Below, we’ve outlined how we’ve come to the pay an NBA player can expect per game, month, week, minute, and second.
- Per Game – with 82 regular season games in the NBA, we simply divided the total 2022-23 NBA season compensation by 82 to determine the pay per game for an NBA player.
- Per Month – with the NBA regular season being played over a 7-month period, we simply divided the total 2022-23 NBA season compensation by 7 to determine the pay per month for an NBA player.
- Per Week – with the NBA regular season being played over a 28-week period, we simply divided the total 2022-23 NBA season compensation by 28 to determine the pay per week for an NBA player.
- Per Minute – with the NBA regular season being played in 82-games, with 48-minutes allotted to each game, we simply multiplied 82 by 48 and divided the total number by the individual NBA players 2022-23 compensation. This left us with a result of 3,936 minutes of play for an NBA player in the regular season.
- Per Second – with the NBA regular season being played in 82-games, with 48-minutes allotted to each game, and with 60-seconds in a minute, we simply multiplied 82 by the total of 48 times 60, for a result of 231,160 seconds in an NBA players regular season games.
Highest Paid NBA Players In the 2022-23 NBA Season
| Rank | Team | Player | 2021-22 Season | 2022-23 Season | 2023-24 Season |
| 1 | GSW | Steph Curry | $45,780,966 | $48,070,014 | $51,915,615 |
| 2 | HOU | John Wall | $44,310,840 | $47,366,760 | – |
| 3 | LAL | Russell Westbrook | $44,211,146 | $47,063,478 | – |
| 4 | PHI | James Harden | $43,848,000 | $46,872,000 | – |
| 5 | LAL | LeBron James | $41,180,544 | $44,474,988 | – |
| 6 | BRK | Kevin Durant | $40,918,900 | $44,119,845 | $46,407,433 |
| 7 | MIL | Giannis Antetokounmpo | $39,344,970 | $42,492,568 | $45,640,165 |
| 8 | LAC | Paul George | $39,344,970 | $42,492,568 | $45,640,165 |
| 9 | POR | Damian Lillard | $39,344,900 | $42,492,492 | $45,640,084 |
| 10 | LAC | Kawhi Leonard | $39,344,900 | $42,492,492 | $45,640,084 |
| 11 | GSW | Klay Thompson | $37,980,720 | $40,600,080 | $43,219,440 |
| 12 | MIA | Jimmy Butler | $36,016,200 | $37,653,300 | $45,183,960 |
| 13 | PHI | Tobias Harris | $36,000,000 | $38,482,759 | $40,965,517 |
| 14 | MIL | Khris Middleton | $35,500,000 | $37,948,276 | $40,396,552 |
