These are the highest-paid NBA players in history

Diego Jiménez Rubio | Mon, 10/20/2025 - 16:09

Highest Paid NBA Players. Photo: gettyimages

Staggering figures and difficulty in putting into context what they represent. That's all that the list of highest-paid NBA players in history, recently made public, suggests, led by Kevin Durant. Many factors play a role in this issue, and it's symptomatic that the top 10 is dominated by active players.

Imagine what it must be like to have earned almost 600 million dollars before turning 40. Stop imagining. You won't do it. These figures are out of reach for almost anyone, but in the NBA, miracles of this magnitude do happen. While it's true that Lebron James is the oldest player in the league, it's not surprising that he is surpassed in earnings by Kevin Durant, thanks to the lucrative contracts KD has secured in recent times and because Lebron's early years didn't have salaries as highly valued as they are now.

Looking to the future outlook, it seems very likely that Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Jayson Tatum will soon be fully engaged in the battle to become the highest-earning players in NBA history. Both have many years ahead in their careers and have already proven to belong to the elite and to be generational talents. Perhaps the most surprising thing is to see Devin Booker in that list, a player clearly inferior in level to the other stars.