NBA salaries analysis (1991-2022)

We spent 3 months collecting and analyzing 15,161 NBA salaries of 2,516 NBA players from 1990-91 to 2021-22 season. The research presents the most comprehensive analysis of salaries in the NBA league.

Top NBA salary statistics

• The average salary in the NBA league is $7.90 million for the 2020-21 season and is projected to be $8.25 million in the 2021-22 season.
• The median NBA salary for the 2020-21 season is $3.83 million, rising to $4.02 million in 2022.
• Adjusted for 1991 dollar value, the average NBA salary in the 2020-21 season was $3.99 million. This is a 1% increase from the previous season.
• The average salary of an NBA point guard in the 2020-21 season is $11.01 million. This is the highest-paid position in the league for the second season in a row.
• NBA shooting guards have been the lowest-paid players in the NBA for 8 consecutive seasons.
• The salary of NBA players peaks at age 33, amounting to 12.1% of the salary cap on average. 
• From 1991 to 2022, NBA players coming from Duke earned $1.89 billion in total, most among all USA colleges.
• 13 NBA players born in Spain have average earnings of $7.95 million, making them the highest-paid NBA players by country.
• Steph Curry is the highest-paid player in NBA history, earning $45.78 million in the 2021-22 season.  

NBA salary by year

Average NBA salary by year

The average NBA salary for the 2021-22 season stands at $8.25 million, which presents a 4% increase from the 2020-21 season. This is the lowest salary growth over the last 7 years.

Since the 1990-91 season, the average salary in the league faced the annual decline only 3 times, with an average annual growth of 8%.

During the 90s, annual growth of the average NBA salary never dropped below 10%, peaking at 21% in 1995-96.

The average growth dropped to 3% from 2002 to 2012 and rose to 7% from 2012 to 2022.

The biggest increase in average salary in the NBA occurred in the 2016-17 season when it jumped $4.85 million to $5.97 million, which presents a 23% jump.

The largest salary drop was in the 2014-15 season, going down by 12% from $5.06 in 2013-14 million to $4.45 million.

Median NBA salary by year

The median NBA salary for the 2021-22 season is $4.02 million, which presents a 5% increase from a year before.

The median salary in the NBA currently presents 49% of the average NBA salary. This is the 3rd lowest share since 1990-91 season.

During the 90s, median NBA salary presented 74% of the average salary, peaking at 84% in the 1993-94 season.

From 2001 to 2010, the median salary accounted for 62% of the average, and from 2011 to 2022 it fell down to 55%. 

Over the last 5 seasons, the median salary was under 50% of the average NBA salary.

The increased stratification in NBA salaries suggests that the gap between the wealthiest NBA players and others had increased over the last few years. This particularly applies to players under minimum and two-way contracts.

NBA salaries and inflation by year

Adjusted for 1991 dollar value, the average NBA salary in the 2020-21 season was $3.99 million. This is a 1% increase from the previous season.

Expressed in 1991 dollars, the average NBA salary presents only 50% of the actual salary. For the 6th year in a row, the gap between the average and inflation-adjusted average salary has increased, growing by an additional 14% in 2021.

NBA salaries by position

Changes in the way the game is played led to the redistribution of salaries among different positions in the NBA. Below is a historic overview of average NBA salaries based on player's position.

For the second season in a row, NBA point guards are the highest-paid players in the league. They took over the no1 from the centers, who dominated for 6 straight years prior to the 2019-20 season.

Shooting guards are the lowest-paid players in the NBA for the 8th season in a row, and the only position with an average salary under $7 million in 2021.

NBA centers are the only position whose average salary decreased in 2021, while power forwards’ salary had the biggest growth.

Average NBA point guard salary

The average salary of an NBA point guard in the 2020-21 season is $11.01 million. This is the highest-paid position in the league for the second season in a row.

NBA point guards are the first group with a salary average of over $10 million in NBA history. 

In the 2020-21 season, 6 out of 10 NBA’s highest-paid players were point guards, and 9 out of the top20.

Over the last 3 seasons, point guards’ salary in the league grew 20% on average, the most in the league.

Average NBA shooting guard salary

The average salary of an NBA shooting guard stands at $6.50 million in the 2020-21 season, increasing 7% from the previous year.

NBA shooting guards have been the lowest-paid players in the NBA for 8 consecutive seasons. Only 2 out of 20 highest-paid players in the league in 2021 were shooting guards.

Average NBA small forward salary

In 2021, NBA small forwards were making $7.13 million on average, which presents a 3% increase from the previous year.

This is the lowest annual increase in salaries among all 5 positions and the lowest 5-year average growth in the league.

Only 1 small forward had a top10 NBA salary in 2021, and 4 of them were in the top20.

NBA small forwards have never been the highest-paid position in the league over the last 31 seasons.

Average NBA power forward salary

The average salary of an NBA power forward is $7.64 million in 2021, which is a 16% increase from the previous season.

Small forwards had the highest annual salary growth in 2021, recovering after 2 seans without a salary increase.

Among the top10 highest-paid players in the NBA, only 1 is a power forward, and only 4 out of the top20.

Average NBA center salary

NBA centers earned $7.82 on average in 2021, dropping by 15% from the previous season.

Centers are the only position that faced a decrease in average salary from the 2019-20 season.

From 2014 to 2019, NBA centers were the highest-paid players in the league.

In 2021, NBA centers didn’t have a representative in top20 highest-paid players.

NBA salary by age

The salary of NBA players peaks at age 33, amounting to 12.1% of the salary cap on average. 

From 18 to 27 years of age, NBA players make 5.3% of the salary cap on average.

From ages 28 to 35, players’ salary remains over 10% of the salary cap, averaging at 11.3%.

After year 35 until retirement, players earn around 6.7% of the cap.

NBA salary by college

Most NBA players have college experience prior to entering the league. Our goal was to investigate which colleges produce the highest-paid NBA players.

From 1991 to 2022, NBA players coming from Duke earned $1.89 billion in total, most among all USA colleges.

Former Kentucky students grossed over $1.79 billion over the same period, followed by UNC ($1.65 billion), and UCLA ($1.55 billion).

NBA players from 8 different colleges earned over $1 billion in total from 1991 to 2022.

Wake Forrest NBA players have the largest salary in the league from 1991 to 2022 with $7.19 million.

Texas students are in second place with $6.49 million, followed by Florida with $6.09 million.

Adjusted for salary cap changes, NBA players from Georgetown have the highest salary in the league from 1991 to 2022 with 13.8% of the salary cap.

Oregon State students are second with 12.2%, followed by Wake Forest (11.2%).

NBA salary by birthplace

From the 1990-91 season, players born in 82 different countries stepped on the NBA floor. We dived into their career earnings to see which country produced the highest-earning players during this period.

13 NBA players born in Spain have average earnings of $7.95 million, making them the highest-paid NBA players by country.

German players averaged $6.61 million during this period, followed by 20 Australian players earning $6.57 million.

Taking salary cap change into consideration, German players have been the highest-paid in the NBA over the last 32 seasons, making 12.6% of the cap on average.

Nigerian players earned 12%, while players from Spain average 11.7% of the salary cap.

Highest paid NBA players

Following the growth of salaries in the NBA, the most lucrative contracts signed in the league are from the last 2 seasons. In this section, we’ll present a quick overview of the largest contracts in NBA history.

For a detailed breakdown of the NBA’s highest-paid players, we prepared a separate analysis which is available here. (link to highest-paid players page).

Largest salaries in the NBA history

All 10 largest NBA salaries are from the last 2 seasons, and all of them come from point guards.

On 15 occasions, the salary of an NBA player went over $40 million in a season, and 84 times it went over $30 million.

Steph Curry is the highest-paid player in NBA history, earning $45.78 million in the 2021-22 season.  

Looking through the salary cap, Michael Jordan is the highest-paid NBA player ever. During the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, Jordan earned more than the NBA salary cap limit was at a time.

Salary Cap Dream Team

If we could play fantasy basketball, travel through time, and bring players back from different seasons and eras, what would the dream team be like? It’s easy to name the best X players in the league from the years 1991-2022, but it’s impossible to fit them all in one team due to the salary cap restrictions.

We decided to analyze all of the players’ salaries, along with their stats and accomplishments from a given season. We came out with the ultimate “salary cap friendly team” composed of 12 players whose wages do not exceed 100% of the cap.

This is our Salary Cap Dream Team. Starting lineup features 3 superstars from the 90s and 2 future Hall of Famers as rookies. The bench features elite defenders, as well as shooters. This is a team to beat for sure.

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• All data, including graphics, images, and text selections are free to use, as long as the reference to the original research is included
• We are open to any questions, interviews, and data requests. Just reach out to dimitrije@runrepeat.com

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