LeBron James is the highest-paid player in NBA history by completed career earnings, with $581.4 million earned through the 2025–26 season. Kevin Durant ranks second at $501.1 million, Stephen Curry is third at $470.1 million, and James Harden and Paul George complete the top five.
This ranking measures money already earned from NBA contracts through the completed 2025–26 season. It does not include endorsements, investments, shoe deals, business income, estimated net worth or unpaid future contract years. The totals follow Spotrac’s career-earnings database, which also includes listed NBA Cup earnings.
The top 10 receive full analysis below, while the complete table near the bottom extends the ranking to the 100 highest-paid players in NBA history.
Table of Contents
- How the NBA Career Earnings Ranking Works
- Career Earnings vs. Guaranteed Contract Value
- Why Modern Players Dominate the List
- #10 Anthony Davis
- #9 Damian Lillard
- #8 Jimmy Butler
- #7 Kawhi Leonard
- #6 Chris Paul
- #5 Paul George
- #4 James Harden
- #3 Stephen Curry
- #2 Kevin Durant
- #1 LeBron James
- What the Top 100 Reveals
- Top 100 NBA Career Earnings Table
- FAQ
- Sources and Data Notes
- Conclusion
- More NBA Rankings
How the NBA Career Earnings Ranking Works
Players are ranked by nominal NBA earnings already credited through the end of the 2025–26 season. The amounts are not adjusted for inflation, so they answer a straightforward question: who received the most total NBA pay in actual dollars?
The top-10 headings round each total to one decimal million to match the supplied graphic. The top-100 table uses exact dollar amounts so close placements remain clear.
Because this is a completed-earnings list, a newly signed extension does not count in full on the day it is announced. Only the paid or season-through amount included in the selected data snapshot belongs in the ranking.
Career Earnings vs. Guaranteed Contract Value
Career earnings and total contract value are not interchangeable. A player may have hundreds of millions guaranteed in future seasons without having earned that money yet. Using future contract value would push younger stars much higher and turn the article into a projection rather than a historical earnings list.
This page also excludes endorsement and business income. LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have built enormous commercial portfolios, but none of that money is included here.
Why Modern Players Dominate the Highest-Paid NBA List
Modern players benefit from a much larger salary cap, escalating maximum salaries, richer media deals and longer windows in which stars can remain premium earners. That structural growth explains why nine of the top 10 were active during the 2020s.
The ranking is therefore not a substitute for a greatest-players list. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in salary environments that made today’s totals impossible. For an on-court comparison, see the best NBA players of all time.
#10 Anthony Davis — $364.5M
Career earnings: $364,454,284 through the 2025–26 season.
Anthony Davis reached the top 10 through a combination of elite two-way value and repeated maximum-level contracts. His earning power began in New Orleans and expanded after he became a championship centerpiece in Los Angeles.
Frontcourt players with Davis’ rim protection, scoring touch and playoff versatility are exceptionally difficult to replace. That scarcity kept his salary near the top of the market even when injuries interrupted individual seasons.
#9 Damian Lillard — $365.4M
Career earnings: $365,371,691 through the 2025–26 season.
Damian Lillard turned more than a decade of franchise-level guard play into $365.4 million in career earnings. His long tenure as Portland’s primary scorer and creator placed him in position for multiple major extensions.
Lillard’s shooting range and late-game shot creation made his offense portable across different roster constructions. The total reflects both superstar production and the leverage earned by remaining the face of one franchise for most of his prime.
#8 Jimmy Butler — $366.2M
Career earnings: $366,174,318 through the 2025–26 season.
Jimmy Butler’s placement is especially notable because he entered the NBA as the final pick of the first round. He developed from a defense-first role player into a primary scorer, playmaker and postseason centerpiece.
Each stage of that rise increased his market value. Butler did not receive the automatic earning runway of a top lottery pick, so his $366.2 million total was built almost entirely through performance and sustained star-level demand.
#7 Kawhi Leonard — $375.8M
Career earnings: $375,772,011 through the 2025–26 season.
Kawhi Leonard converted one of the strongest two-way peaks of the modern era into $375.8 million in career NBA earnings. Championship runs with San Antonio and Toronto established the ceiling that later supported his largest contracts.
Availability has been the persistent concern, but teams continued paying for the possibility of elite playoff shot creation and perimeter defense in the same player. Few stars offer that combination when healthy.
#6 Chris Paul — $404.5M
Career earnings: $404,526,572 through the 2025–26 season.
Chris Paul reached $404.5 million through one of the longest high-level point guard careers in league history. He remained valuable across multiple roster cycles because his passing, decision-making and mid-range scoring could improve an offense without requiring one specific system.
Paul’s total is a longevity achievement as much as a peak-value achievement. He secured star contracts in several different salary-cap environments and continued earning meaningful NBA money long after most point guards decline.
#5 Paul George — $406.2M
Career earnings: $406,203,976 through the 2025–26 season.
Paul George shows how aggressively the modern NBA pays two-way wings. At his best, he could guard elite perimeter scorers, create his own shot and space the floor without needing to dominate every possession.
That skill set remained valuable across Indiana, Oklahoma City, the Clippers and Philadelphia. Injuries reduced his availability at times, but the combination of size, shooting and defensive credibility repeatedly produced maximum-level demand.
#4 James Harden — $411.7M
Career earnings: $411,670,071 through the 2025–26 season.
James Harden earned $411.7 million by spending more than a decade as one of the league’s most productive offensive engines. His Houston peak included MVP-level scoring, elite passing and the ability to build an entire half-court system around his decisions.
Harden also extended his earning window by moving from overwhelming volume scorer to high-level lead guard. That evolution allowed him to remain valuable after his athletic and scoring peaks began to shift.
#3 Stephen Curry — $470.1M
Career earnings: $470,141,507 through the 2025–26 season.
Stephen Curry ranks third despite spending part of his prime on one of the greatest value contracts in league history. Once Golden State’s dynasty and his individual value were fully established, his later deals pushed him into the highest annual salary tier.
Curry’s shooting, movement and championship impact reshaped the league while making him irreplaceable to one franchise. His career total is likely to keep climbing rapidly because his late-career salaries are far larger than the contracts from his first several seasons.
#2 Kevin Durant — $501.1M
Career earnings: $501,135,653 through the 2025–26 season.
Kevin Durant became the second player to cross $500 million in completed NBA earnings. His scoring efficiency, size and ability to fit beside other stars kept him at maximum-contract value through multiple teams and phases of his career.
Durant’s game aged well because it never depended on one narrow physical advantage. He could create from the perimeter, post smaller defenders and score over contests, allowing his contract value to remain elite deep into his thirties.
#1 LeBron James — $581.4M
Career earnings: $581,375,548 through the 2025–26 season.
LeBron James leads NBA history with $581.4 million in completed career earnings. He combined superstar production, extraordinary durability and negotiating leverage across Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles.
The record is fundamentally a longevity achievement. LeBron remained worthy of premium salary across more than two decades and several generations of salary-cap growth. His off-court wealth is excluded, making the gap even more striking: this total represents NBA earnings alone.
What the Top 100 Highest-Paid NBA Players Reveals
The Top Three Have Created a Separate Earnings Tier
LeBron, Durant and Curry are the only players above $470 million in the completed 2025–26 snapshot. Harden is fourth, but he trails Curry by more than $58 million.
Modern Stars Are Passing Retired Legends Quickly
Kevin Garnett remains the highest-ranked retired player at No. 15, followed by Kobe Bryant at No. 16. Younger stars such as Nikola Jokić, Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum are positioned to move rapidly because their largest salary years are still ahead.
Longevity Can Be as Valuable as an MVP Peak
Tobias Harris, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry and Harrison Barnes rank extremely high without winning an MVP award. Long careers as trusted starters can accumulate more salary than shorter careers with greater individual peaks.
The List Uses Nominal Dollars
The ranking does not adjust for inflation or compare salaries to the cap in each season. That is why it should not be used to argue that a modern player was more valuable than an earlier legend.
Top 100 Highest-Paid Players in NBA History
The table below lists completed NBA career earnings through the 2025–26 season. Amounts are shown exactly rather than rounded, and future unpaid contract seasons are excluded.
| Rank | Player | Career Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | $581,375,548 |
| 2 | Kevin Durant | $501,135,653 |
| 3 | Stephen Curry | $470,141,507 |
| 4 | James Harden | $411,670,071 |
| 5 | Paul George | $406,203,976 |
| 6 | Chris Paul | $404,526,572 |
| 7 | Kawhi Leonard | $375,772,011 |
| 8 | Jimmy Butler | $366,174,318 |
| 9 | Damian Lillard | $365,371,691 |
| 10 | Anthony Davis | $364,454,284 |
| 11 | Russell Westbrook | $349,531,249 |
| 12 | Kyrie Irving | $347,701,173 |
| 13 | Bradley Beal | $342,866,492 |
| 14 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | $338,006,542 |
| 15 | Kevin Garnett | $334,304,240 |
| 16 | Kobe Bryant | $323,312,307 |
| 17 | Joel Embiid | $321,069,851 |
| 18 | Jrue Holiday | $319,199,232 |
| 19 | Tobias Harris | $312,620,799 |
| 20 | Khris Middleton | $308,267,372 |
| 21 | DeMar DeRozan | $305,579,827 |
| 22 | Nikola Jokić | $304,765,259 |
| 23 | CJ McCollum | $299,537,588 |
| 24 | Klay Thompson | $298,755,404 |
| 25 | Rudy Gobert | $297,113,968 |
| 26 | Mike Conley | $295,168,909 |
| 27 | Al Horford | $290,871,768 |
| 28 | Shaquille O’Neal | $286,344,668 |
| 29 | Karl-Anthony Towns | $285,249,714 |
| 30 | Kyle Lowry | $281,643,499 |
| 31 | Kevin Love | $277,654,140 |
| 32 | Blake Griffin | $277,038,333 |
| 33 | John Wall | $276,483,708 |
| 34 | Gordon Hayward | $272,560,466 |
| 35 | Devin Booker | $268,984,010 |
| 36 | Carmelo Anthony | $265,886,137 |
| 37 | Chris Bosh | $264,353,012 |
| 38 | Zach LaVine | $255,620,868 |
| 39 | Dirk Nowitzki | $251,646,362 |
| 40 | Andrew Wiggins | $249,776,202 |
| 41 | Dwight Howard | $245,142,483 |
| 42 | Tim Duncan | $243,906,050 |
| 43 | Kristaps Porziņģis | $235,247,782 |
| 44 | Jaylen Brown | $235,197,477 |
| 45 | Pascal Siakam | $230,890,579 |
| 46 | Brook Lopez | $229,414,643 |
| 47 | De’Aaron Fox | $229,143,419 |
| 48 | Draymond Green | $227,935,110 |
| 49 | Harrison Barnes | $224,120,874 |
| 50 | Pau Gasol | $221,454,450 |
| 51 | Brandon Ingram | $219,870,923 |
| 52 | Jamal Murray | $218,880,009 |
| 53 | Joe Johnson | $217,187,842 |
| 54 | Nikola Vučević | $214,338,639 |
| 55 | LaMarcus Aldridge | $213,385,919 |
| 56 | Jayson Tatum | $209,664,075 |
| 57 | Nicolas Batum | $209,392,775 |
| 58 | Danilo Gallinari | $209,195,784 |
| 59 | D’Angelo Russell | $204,337,186 |
| 60 | Paul Pierce | $203,813,032 |
| 61 | Ben Simmons | $203,356,689 |
| 62 | Marc Gasol | $199,764,496 |
| 63 | Eric Gordon | $199,740,776 |
| 64 | Luka Dončić | $198,284,451 |
| 65 | Dwyane Wade | $197,888,283 |
| 66 | Zach Randolph | $196,597,245 |
| 67 | Kemba Walker | $195,522,829 |
| 68 | Julius Randle | $195,341,840 |
| 69 | Domantas Sabonis | $193,259,326 |
| 70 | Trae Young | $192,825,403 |
| 71 | Paul Millsap | $192,540,558 |
| 72 | Fred VanVleet | $190,203,782 |
| 73 | Andre Iguodala | $190,183,737 |
| 74 | Donovan Mitchell | $188,320,476 |
| 75 | Tyson Chandler | $187,576,101 |
| 76 | Steven Adams | $184,578,261 |
| 77 | Gilbert Arenas | $184,283,558 |
| 78 | Ray Allen | $182,404,830 |
| 79 | Jason Kidd | $182,027,968 |
| 80 | Rudy Gay | $181,260,320 |
| 81 | DeAndre Jordan | $181,182,736 |
| 82 | Aaron Gordon | $180,417,984 |
| 83 | Chris Webber | $178,230,697 |
| 84 | Bam Adebayo | $176,853,285 |
| 85 | Tony Parker | $176,343,436 |
| 86 | Jerami Grant | $171,922,781 |
| 87 | Vince Carter | $171,885,974 |
| 88 | Derrick Rose | $171,749,929 |
| 89 | Allen Iverson | $171,661,402 |
| 90 | Deandre Ayton | $170,867,769 |
| 91 | Jermaine O’Neal | $167,579,153 |
| 92 | Goran Dragić | $167,226,759 |
| 93 | Elton Brand | $166,791,789 |
| 94 | Luol Deng | $166,056,673 |
| 95 | Myles Turner | $165,668,055 |
| 96 | Deron Williams | $164,961,148 |
| 97 | Amar’e Stoudemire | $163,128,079 |
| 98 | Tracy McGrady | $162,425,370 |
| 99 | Thaddeus Young | $161,792,137 |
| 100 | Terry Rozier | $160,538,076 |
FAQ: Highest-Paid Players in NBA History
Who is the highest-paid player in NBA history?
LeBron James leads all NBA players with $581,375,548 in completed career earnings through the 2025–26 season.
Who is the first NBA player to earn $500 million in salary?
LeBron James was the first player to exceed $500 million in NBA career earnings. Kevin Durant has also passed that mark.
Does the ranking include endorsement income?
No. Endorsements, investments, shoe contracts, business income and net worth estimates are excluded.
Does the table include future guaranteed salary?
No. The ranking is based on completed earnings through the selected season, not the full value of unpaid future contract years.
Why is Michael Jordan not in the top 100?
Jordan played before the modern salary boom. His career salary was enormous for his era but far below the nominal totals produced by later salary-cap growth.
Who is the highest-paid retired NBA player?
Kevin Garnett ranks highest among retired players in this data snapshot, with $334,304,240 in career NBA earnings.
Sources and Data Notes
The earnings totals and order were verified against Spotrac’s NBA Career Earnings database. Spotrac describes its figures as salary and NBA Cup earnings. The ranking was frozen to the completed 2025–26 earnings snapshot so future unpaid contract seasons would not be mixed with historical earnings.
Scope: Nominal NBA career earnings through 2025–26. Endorsements, investments, business income, estimated net worth, inflation adjustments and future unpaid salary are excluded.
Last reviewed: July 24, 2026.
Conclusion: LeBron James Leads NBA Career Earnings
LeBron James ranks first with $581.4 million in completed NBA earnings, followed by Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. The gap at the top reflects a rare combination of superstar value, longevity and careers that overlapped with enormous salary-cap growth.
The full top 100 also shows that career earnings are not reserved for MVPs and champions. Remaining healthy, staying useful across multiple contracts and filling a scarce role can produce generational earnings even without an all-time-great peak.
More NBA Rankings
Compare the financial list with the best NBA players of all time, the NBA’s all-time career scoring leaders and the NBA all-time rankings hub.
For more basketball records and historical lists, visit the main SOG Sports NBA page. Follow SOG Basketball on Instagram for daily rankings, debates and graphics.
