Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan have shared a roller coaster of a relationship. From best friends to enemies to strangers, they’ve been through it all. It was recently announced that Jordan has partnered up with NBC to become a special contributor in their next season’s NBA coverage. Charles Barkley recently appeared on Dan Patrick’s show following this deal and shared his opinion on the nature of Jordan’s role. While he initially claimed he did not know anything about the nature of the deal, he then pondered the nature of the investment of money going into commercializing the NBA today.
Dan Patrick followed up with a hypothetical on how much Barkley thought Jordan could command in the modern NBA as an annual salary. Barkley confidently responded, saying he could be the first player to command a $100 million/year contract and deserve it. He then goes on to criticize load management in the NBA.
“Well, he’d be the first hundred-million-dollar player. Well, first of all, we’re gonna have guys making 70-80 million in three to four years, you know. Man, bless these guys as long as they appreciate how lucky they are and don’t think they’re making all that money because they’re great players. They were just born at the right time. We got a bunch of great players, but man, these guys, I just hope they appreciate how lucky they are and stop this BS with load management.”
“I’m so old, we flew commercial and played back to back. And these guys got the best private planes, they got the best medical staff, they got these cold water plunges, they got these hyperbaric chambers, I mean, they got the best shoes, and they can’t play basketball two days in a row for $50-60 million? That’s the craziest stuff ever, man.”
Who Has The Biggest Contract In The NBA Right Now?
After securing the first NBA championship for the Celtics since 2008, Jayson Tatum secured the biggest contract in NBA history. He signed a five-year, $314 million supermax contract extension with the Celtics on July 1, 2024. This contract allows him a player option in the 2029-30 season for $ 71,446,914. Barkley is right, we are already seeing players anticipate $70 million plus in a year.
Before him, Jaylen Brown had the largest contract in NBA history, signed in 202,3, valued at $304 million. In the final year of that contract, Brown could demand as high as $69.1 million. Currently, Stephen Curry is the highest earner in the NBA in terms of salary. He earned $55 million in the 2024-25 season.
If this trend continues, we may be a decade or so away from seeing $100 million contracts in the NBA regularly. Do you think athletes are paid much more than they deserve? Or are they justified in getting paid the way that they are? Let us know in the comments section.
