The 10 Richest NBA players of all time

The NBA has become a global sport since the 1980s, when it first burst onto the global scene during the heyday of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and later on, Michael Jordan. Player salaries, which started off in the hundreds of dollars per season range when the league was first created in 1947, have now risen to multi-million dollars - of the 450 players in the league, fewer than 30 are earning less than $1 million today irrespective of their playing time and role on their respective teams.

What follows here is a list of the 10 highest net worth individuals to have played in the NBA. Unsurprisingly, all of the players on this list are either in the Hall of Fame, or are shoo-ins to make it to Springfield a couple of years after their retirements.

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#10 Tim Duncan - $150 million

One of the greatest no. 1 overall pick in NBA history, Tim 'Big Fundamental' Duncan played 19 seasons in the NBA, spending all of them with the San Antonio Spurs organization. OVer the course of his career, Duncan earned over $236 million in player salaries and added over $100 million to that sum in endorsement deals.

Duncan recouped $7.5 million worth of sunk investments from his ex-financial adviser Charles Banks following a long and protracted legal proceeding.in the year 2017. Duncan is now a performance advisor for the Spurs organization and still receives a $6 million salary for his playing days.

#9 Kevin Garnett - $190 million

Earning over $300 million in career NBA salaries, and a significant amount other than that in shoe deals and other endorsements, Garnett is one of the highest earners in NBA history. After signing him to two of the biggest contracts in NBA history up until that point, Garnett was traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics in a 7-players-for-1 deal that was the highest number of players traded by a franchise in exchange for one player up until the Chris Paul trade to the Rockets in the summer of 2017.

Winning the MVP award for the 2003-04 season and bringing the Timberwolves their only Conference Finals appearance in franchise history was the high-water mark of his career, and he only was able to win an NBA title at the late stages of his prime.

Garnett's net worth right now, however, is under dispute after he sued his financial advisors, who were the same team that represented Tim Duncan. It is rumoured that the group sunk around $70 million of Garnett's fortune, and it remains to be seen how much of that he can reclaim in the legal proceedings.

#8 Hakeem Olajuwon - $200 million

Commonly considered one of the 10 greatest players in the history of basketball and one of the 5 greatest players at the center position, Hakeem Olajuwon was the first and only African-origin player to win the MVP award in the 1993-94 season - a time when he also won the Defensive Player of the Year trophy to become one of only 2 players with such a double of individual honours in the same season.

Through the course of his 18-year NBA career, the end of which he spent with the Toronto Raptors, Olajuwon earned over $100 million as salaries, and supplemented that amount with over $50 million in endorsements. He's also been a shrewd investor, notably flipping a major piece of real estate in the Houston metropolitan area for a profit of $13 million within 18 months of buying it.

#7 David Robinson - $200 million

One of the most successful centers in basketball history, 'The Admiral' - as Robinson was called by fans and critics alike - played center for the San Antonio Spurs for his entire NBA career from 1989 to 2003. Selected with the #1 overall pick by the Spurs in 1987, Robinson served out his Navy tour of duty of 2 years before debuting in the league and becoming an instant success.

A ten-time All-Star, Robinson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Michael Jordan, John Stockton and Jerry Sloan. Through the course of his 14-year career, Robinson tallied $116 million in NBA career salary.

Since retiring, Robinson has launched two private equity funds. The first fund, Admiral Capital, raised $115 million after being launched in 2007. That fund eventually went on to acquire $350 million worth of real estate assets. He launched his second fund in 2015, with the goal of raising $175 million to again invest in real estate. He is also committed to giving back to the community, and uses 10% of his bottom line to fund a variety of charities as well as having established a school similar to the LeBron James Foundation school.

#6 Grant Hill - $250 million

During his lengthy NBA career, Grant earned $140 million in salary alone and another roughly $120 million from endorsements. In 1997, Grant signed a seven-year $80 million deal with Fila which was the largest shoe contract in history up to that point. In 2018 he signed a lifetime deal with Fila that will continue to pay Grant north of $10 million per year to endorse the company.

Adorned with 7 All-Star game appearances before foot and knee injuries derailed what could have been an all-time great career, Grant Hill was the prototype for the point forward position that a lot of the world's best players today play at. The likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin have the former Duke NCAA champion to thank for paving the way for them.

#5 Shaquille O'Neal - $400 million

Shaquille O'Neal was, by many accounts, the most dominant player in the modern NBA at the peak of his Lakers career. At a height of 7'1" and a weight of up to 330 pounds in the year 2001, Shaq was able to move with a speed, agility and balance that men of his size should not logically be able to.

O'Neal had a 13-year peak in which he averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks per game, and is one of only 2 players to be named the NBA Finals MVP three times in a row (with the other being Michael Jordan).

After retirement from the NBA following 19 seasons in the league, O'Neal joined TNT as an analyst for their award-winning pre-game, halftime and post-game show 'Inside The NBA'. O’Neal is among the world’s highest-paid retired athletes thanks to many sponsorships and business deals, including Shaq-branded suits, sneakers, and jewelry. His net worth is roughly $400 million.

#4 LeBron James - $440 million

In the 2015-16 NBA season, LeBron James earned a grand total of nearly $85 million in terms of wages and endorsements combined. Much of his earnings come from the royalties he earns off the Nike LeBron line of basketball sneakers, released in 2003 when The King was still a prospective Chosen One and before he'd set foot on an NBA court ever.

LeBron's off-court earnings don't start and end at endorsements alone. He's an investor in Blaze Pizzas, one of the fastest-growing pizza chains in the United States of America over the past couple of years. James and his business partner Maverick Carter own production company SpringHill Entertainment.

His net worth following the end of the 2017-18 season is estimated to be nearly $440 million

#3 Kobe Bryant - $500 million

Kobe Bryant has a net worth of $500 million. He earns an annual salary of $25 million. In 2016, Bryant earned roughly $26 million from endorsements. The basketball star was the highest-paid athlete in the history of team sports that year, according to Forbes. By the time he retired from basketball in 2016, he had total career earnings of $770 million.

Outside of basketball, Bryant makes much of his money from product endorsements. Some of the brands he has endorsed include Nintendo, Turkish Airlines, and Sprite. One of Bryant’s biggest endorsements deals is with Nike. In 2013, he secured a deal paying $10 million a year.

He invested $6 million in Body Armor Energy Drink in the year 2014 to become the third largest shareholder in the company. His stake right now is worth $200 million.

#2 Magic Johnson - $600 million

Magic Johnson is known for his success on the basketball court as the star point guard for the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers who powered his way to five NBA championships during the 1980s. But since his second retirement in 1996, he’s become a business mogul, making the bulk of his net worth as the CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE), a billion-dollar conglomerate he started in 1987.

He's also started enterprises like ASPiRE, a television network; Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies, which helps high school dropouts get diplomas; and Clear Health Alliance, which helps provide health-care for HIV/AIDS patients. Johnson once also owned 105 Starbucks and a 4.5% stake in the Lakers. He sold both and collected a reported $100 million in 2010.

In 2012, he partnered with Guggenheim Partners (an investment firm) to buy a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.15 billion. According to official MLB reports, this was the highest amount of money ever paid for a North American sports franchise.

#1 Michael Jordan - $1.65 billion dollars

Michael Jordan's career earnings of $1.85 billion (adjusted for inflation) make him the highest-paid athlete of all time. His deal with Nike to launch the Jordan brand has been a gamechanger in the world of sports shoes, and in general, sports apparel. The baggy shorts worn by NBA players commonly these days are the result of Jordan himself wearing another pair of shorts beneath his Bulls uniforms, and the rest of the league copying him since he looked so cool.

Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, buying the franchise which were known in 2010 as the Charlotte Bobcats. Following a rebranding to their original name, the Charlotte franchise was introduced in its current Hornets version at the start of the 2014-15 NBA season.

Jordan’s pre-Hornets fortune was built on the back of his NBA career and more specifically his endorsements. Jordan earned $90 million in playing salary during his 15-year playing career. He was the NBA's highest-paid player only two seasons during his career, but he has earned another $1.4 billion (pre-tax) from corporate partners since he turned pro in 1984, including his post-playing career earnings.