The NBA, over its illustrious 75-year history, has seen tremendous growth. Be it in terms of the number of fans or viewership, the league is trending upwards, and probably the biggest reason for this is the vast number of superstars who have popped up in recent memory.
Superstars in the NBA are the face of their respective teams and deservedly are the highest paid among all. But as the league has continued to grow, the money available to teams has seen a meteoric rise resulting in an exponential increase in the amount of money a superstar can earn in the league.
This is truly epitomized by four superstars in the NBA. Despite superstars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry still tearing it up in the league, it is Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns who have signed the highest single-season contracts ever.
Signing massive contract extensions with their respective teams, Lillard, Booker, Towns, and Jokic are set to earn $63 million, $62 million, $62 million, and $61 million, respectively. This is certainly a massive commitment from the franchise as they clearly are hoping that these players can bring them glory.
All the players on the list are in the prime of careers, and given that they are All-NBA talents, they rightly deserve the massive amount of money they are about to get.
But 20 years ago, only a handful of players could earn more than $60 million in their whole NBA career. This really paints a clear picture of how far the league has come.
Given that the NBA continues to grow and how teams are desperate to keep hold of the next superstar on the team, these supermax deals are only going to increase, and it won’t be a surprise to see some other player the record for the highest single-season contract in a couple of off-seasons.
