LeBron, Durant headline NBA's highest-paid players list
It's all about the Benjamins in the National Basketball Association these days, with the league's top-level players cashing in on gigantic paydays under a new collective bargaining agreement and soaring salary cap - a result of a $24-billion television deal signed back in 2014.
There's plenty of green to be made away from basketball, as well, with the NBA's biggest earners combining their outside ventures with their respective salaries to create enormous wealth.
For the third year in a row, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James ranks above the rest as the highest-paid player in the sport, as reported by Forbes on Wednesday. That spot's only reinforced by his lifetime contract with Nike, his SpringHill Entertainment production company, and his seemingly endless amount of endorsements.
Coming in second is former league MVP Kevin Durant, who earns $23.5 million less than The King in total, with a good chunk of that difference coming off the court.
Highest-Paid NBA Players (2017)
| Rank | Player | Team | On-Court | Off-Court | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers | $31M | $55M | $86M |
| 2 | Kevin Durant | Golden State Warriors | $26.5M | $36M | $62.5M |
| 3 | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors | $12.1M | $35M | $47.1M |
| 4 | James Harden | Houston Rockets | $26.5M | $20M | $46.5M |
| 5 | Russell Westbrook | Oklahoma City Thunder | $26.5M | $15M | $41.5M |
| 6 | Dwyane Wade | Chicago Bulls | $23.2M | $13M | $36.2M |
| 7 | Derrick Rose | New York Knicks | $21.3M | $14M | $35.3M |
| 8 | Carmelo Anthony | New York Knicks | $24.6M | $8M | $32.6M |
| 9 | Chris Paul | Los Angeles Clippers | $22.9M | $8M | $30.9M |
| 10 | Kyrie Irving | Cleveland Cavaliers | $17.6M | $13M | $30.6M |