Get ready for NBA players to make $100 million a year
Michael Jordan was the biggest star in American sports and revolutionized the business of the National Basketball Association in the 1990s. LeBron James reigned on the court and built an empire off the court over the past two decades. They are the greatest players of all time and the richest players of their eras.
But the best young player in the NBA today is on pace to make twice as much money in his career as they did combined. Jordan brought home $94 million. By the time he retires, James will have banked more than $500 million in salary, the most of any basketball player in history.
Luka Doncic, the 25-year-old star of the Dallas Mavericks, can make that money look like pocket change. If he continues to dazzle for the rest of his career, Doncic has the potential to get paid more than $1 billion. NBA salaries are getting so bonkers that he could soon be making $100 million in one season—which means Doncic would make more in a single year than Jordan made in his entire career.
As it turns out, the financial gurus in team front offices can already pinpoint when it’s possible: The NBA might have a $100-million-a-year player by the 2032-33 season. This is happening because sports are just about the only thing on television that people still demand to watch live. In the age of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, live sports are the last events that reliably bring eyeballs to television networks.
Meanwhile, their streaming rivals want live sports to attract subscribers themselves. The recent bidding war for basketball games showed how sports rights are both incredibly expensive and increasingly essential, and the NBA capitalized on that intense competition during a defining moment for the media industry. The league is now closing
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