Which is one of the most profitable and richest leagues in the whole world? The right answer is the NBA. All major sports leagues have lucrative and alluring minimum contracts but the NBA has eye-popping minimum contracts.
With some of the highest minimum contracts in U.S. sports, the NBA’s rookie minimum salary is more than $1.2 million for the 2025-26 season, while veteran minimum salaries rise with years of service. For comparison, the MLB minimum salary is $760,000 in 2025, the NHL minimum salary is $775,000 for the 2025-26 season, and the NFL rookie minimum salary is $840,000 in 2025.
Apart from the minimum deals, top players can make much more, although NBA contracts are subject to maximum-salary rules. The NBA pays their players on the 1st & 15th under the standard payment schedule. Among current NBA contracts, Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors – is listed at about $59.6 million for the 2025-26 season.
The next highest salary figures for 2025-26 include Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers – and Nikola Jokić – Denver Nuggets – at about $55.2 million each.
In terms of payment, the NBA is one of the most rewarding professional sports. With the NBA players collecting large paychecks, we are left wondering how do NBA players get paid?
Let’s take a look at the inner workings of how the NBA players are actually paid.
Salary Process of the NBA Players
Under the current NBA’s CBA – Collective Bargaining Agreement – the standard payment schedule pays players on the 1st & 15th of each month. However, the CBA doesn’t clarify whether the salaries are in the form of direct bank deposits or physical checks.
Moreover, the process of escrow, advances, bonuses, etc. are also listed in the CBA but details on their distribution are not specified. According to the podcast of Jalen Rose – a former NBA player – some players receive direct deposits from their teams while some get checks which can be cashed later.
Variations in Salary Payment Methods
Given the large number of salaries, one might expect that the players would get a direct deposit. However, the payment process doesn’t work like that and is not so simple. Because state wage-payment laws vary, teams cannot treat direct deposit exactly the same in every jurisdiction; in some places, employee consent or alternate payment options may be required.
The precise rules vary by state, so some players can receive paper checks or another approved payment method rather than mandatory direct deposit. Since the players get to make millions of dollars each year, we may think it financially irresponsible on their part to prefer checks to bank deposits, but it can be a legal right to do so.
Apart from this, the CBA also states that the players can get advance checks. Subject to CBA limits, players are allowed to receive advance payments, including advances of up to 80% of their guaranteed base compensation in some circumstances. This, according to the typical schedule of game season, would be right after the start of the regular game season.
A very popular example of this is of the famous NBA player Kobe Bryant, who received a cheque of $24.3 million – 80% of his salary – in 2013. Moreover, a few players have expressed interest in getting salaries, bonuses, or endorsement money in the form of Bitcoin.
Sacramento Kings were the first NBA team that accepted Bitcoin for promo items along with game tickets. In 2021, team owner Vivek Ranadivé reportedly said the Kings would give players and staff the option to receive as much of their salary as they wanted in Bitcoin, but cryptocurrency salary arrangements remain unusual and are not the NBA’s standard pay method. Dallas Mavericks is another NBA team that has accepted cryptocurrency through BitPay for merchandise as well for payment of tickets.
Spencer Dinwiddie proposed tokenizing part of his Brooklyn Nets contract through a bond-like investment product. After NBA review, the offering was revised, and investors were offered returns tied to the investment terms rather than direct ownership of his NBA contract.
The idea behind this kind of structure is that the player gets upfront capital and can reinvest the money. When the money from investors needs to be paid in the future, successful investments could benefit the player while investors receive the agreed-upon return.
However, this type of payment is fairly new and isn’t mainstream as of yet.
Frequency of Payments
The next question that arises in our minds is: how often do the NBA players get paid? Well, there is no simple answer to that since the frequency of the payments varies from player to player and from situation to situation.
Generally, under the standard payment schedule, the NBA players are paid twice a month. However, this is not binding on all the players and the players can negotiate a payment structure that suits them and their needs.
Players & their agents can negotiate monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly payments that suit their financial objectives and lifestyle. As we have mentioned earlier, Kobe Bryant agreed to receive 80% of his salary all at once which supports the statement that players can negotiate their own payment structures as well.
Bonuses & Other Payments
Like the yearly salaries of the players, bonuses and their payment methods, as well as time, can vary. However, the bonuses are given usually according to the time when the players sign specific agreements.
For instance, if an NBA player is going to get a bonus because he was selected for the NBA All-Star team, then the bonus is usually given to the player during the All-Star break. Similarly, if a player joins an All-NBA team, the bonus will be given once the regular season is over.
Moreover, if an NBA player joins a franchise and is going to get a sign-on bonus, the bonus will be paid to the player as per his choice, subject to the limits in the CBA. Similar to the salary, the players can negotiate when and how they want to get the bonuses.
Occasionally, the players can get bonuses other than money such as plane tickets, gifts, etc.
Also Read:
How Do NBA Players Get Paid: FAQs
Q. What is the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program?
A while ago, NBA players weren’t equipped with financial knowledge and didn’t have any guidance on how to make financial decisions. However, with the advancement in technology and access to knowledge, the players have gained enough knowledge to help them maximize their earnings.
Research before making any financial decision is becoming the norm these days for NBA players. Even though rookie players sign contracts worth more than what many people make in a lifetime, they don’t have sufficient experience in handling money which leads to bad decisions.
With the introduction of the NBA’s “Rookie Transition Program”, new players learn how and where to spend their money wisely.
Q. Do the NBA players get paid even if they can’t play because of an injury?
Yes, usually, basketball contracts are completely guaranteed against injury. However, this is generally applicable if the injury is basketball-related or otherwise covered under the contract. Moreover, there are a few activities that are barred in the contract and if the player violated the terms stated, the scenario might change.
However, as long as they are injured without violating any terms in their contract, they will still be paid. Some of the contracts are not completely guaranteed at the time of signing. However, players with non-guaranteed contracts who are still on the team’s roster on Jan 10 every league year will generally get a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season.
Q. Are the NBA players paid for overtime like regular people?
Wondering whether the NBA players get paid an additional sum of money for overtime? Well, the answer is yes, they do get paid but not in the way most of us are thinking. Usually, when we are working we get paid by the hour and therefore if we spend more hours on the job, we get paid hourly overtime.
However, we can’t compare the salaries of NBA players to hourly wages since the players get paid by contract for the season, not per hour of play. If the player is playing more minutes in a game, it will not increase their salaries.
However, if they play more games than the number of games they are obligated to play as per their contract, they can get compensated for that apart from their yearly salaries and bonuses. The NBA has a “playoff pool” that contains a certain amount of money.
The playoff teams get money from this playoff pool according to the rounds they play in the playoffs and whether they win the championship or not. The money that each team gets is then distributed to the players according to the role they played in winning the game for the team.
Even though this amount isn’t a lot as compared to the players’ annual salaries, it is still additional money that they can get for playing more than the number of games stipulated in their contracts.
Q. Can NBA teams get around the salary caps?
Technically, they cannot ignore the salary cap rules. Salary caps are the amount of an association revenue that they are allowed to spend while paying their players. This will ensure that a single, rich team can’t buy all the best players available.
However, the NBA uses a soft salary cap, which means teams can exceed the cap only by using exceptions allowed in the CBA, such as Bird rights, minimum contracts, trade rules, or mid-level exceptions. Luxury tax and apron rules can also restrict what teams are allowed to do.
Bonuses are not a free way to avoid the cap. Depending on whether they are considered likely or unlikely incentives, bonuses can count against the salary cap under the CBA’s rules.
Q. Did the NBA players get paid during the pandemic?
Yes, the NBA did pay the players their salaries during the pandemic. However, the amount of the salaries paid was reduced. The players were given partially reduced salaries by 25% on their bi-monthly payments.
Final Words
We all love watching basketball games and are fascinated by the lavish lifestyle that most of these players have. Most of us are curious about how the NBA players get paid. The short answer is that the players are generally paid semi-monthly under the standard payment schedule.
However, the final word is that NBA players get paid in varying ways and at varying times, according to the terms dictated in their contracts. Even though there is a set way for payments, the players can negotiate their own payment structures!
Here’s to a successful basketball season, folks!