Topics: Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, NBA, Steph Curry
Identifying basketball's greatest of all time is a debate with some mileage but when it comes to huge NBA salaries, one man stands alone.
Michael Jordan is a sporting icon and one of the NBA's most successful players ever.
Now 62, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in seven years in the 1990s.
Chicago Bulls baseball caps became a fashionable accessory around the world and Jordan was the man at the forefront of their fame, collecting the MVP award for all six of their finals triumphs.
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MJ was named MVP for the NBA overall on five occasions. He was, and is, a big deal.
He was handsomely rewarded for his renown and his impact too, and it'll be a while before anyone's NBA salary catches up.
According to Basketball Reference, Jordan received a salary of $33,140,000 in 1997-98.
That's a healthy chunk in anyone's money but it amounts to an unbelievable $65,019,257 in 2025, almost double the book value of his Jordan's actual salary 27 years ago.
A player receiving the same salary today could buy 14 Bugatti Divo cars and have enough left over to last a lifetime of leisure.
Nobody is quite on that level. The highest paid player in the NBA for the past eight seasons has been Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry, whose salary is $55,761,216 in 2024-25.
Curry is also the third-highest career earner in the history of the NBA behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
The 37-year-old is projected to pull in the top salary for the next two seasons before Joel Embiid, the 31-year-old Philadelphia 76ers center, takes over in 2027-28 with a seasonal salary of $64,302,336.
But it's in the following season that Embiid will pick up a salary higher than Jordan's inflation-adjusted per-season fortune.
Embiid's projected salary for 2028-29 is $69,065,472, which is 15 Bugatti Divo territory.
It's unlikely that Embiid's salary even then will keep up with MJ once inflation is applied and the Bulls legend could even stay top of the pile when Jayson Tatum breaks the $70m barrier in 2029-30.
After his glory years with the Bulls, Jordan ended his playing career with the Washington Wizards and went on to yet more successes in business and sports administration.
