Paper Trails: The Highest Career Earners in NBA HIstory
Written by Ben Pogany
Shaq Diesel has finally run out of gas. Luckily, short of pulling an Antoine Walker, the newly deemed Big 401k is set for several lives to come. In a now classic bit, Chris Rock quipped “Shaq is rich. The white man who signs his checks…is wealthy.” Maybe its just me, but I gotta think that distinction dissolves somewhere around the quarter-billion mark. This is a guy who made more in his NBA career than Jordan, Bird, Kareem, Wilt and Russell combined. And that’s not even counting all that Shaq Fu paper.
Other than teammate Kevin Garnett, Shaq is in another stratosphere when it comes to career NBA earnings. Kobe might have an extra ring, but the Shaqtus has an extra $70 million. Seriously. Shaquille O'Neal has made 70 million dollars more than the third highest paid athlete in the history of the NBA. Anyway, with all this talk of money, it seemed like a pretty good excuse to put together a list of the highest career earners in NBA history.
Other than teammate Kevin Garnett, Shaq is in another stratosphere when it comes to career NBA earnings. Kobe might have an extra ring, but the Shaqtus has an extra $70 million. Seriously. Shaquille O'Neal has made 70 million dollars more than the third highest paid athlete in the history of the NBA. Anyway, with all this talk of money, it seemed like a pretty good excuse to put together a list of the highest career earners in NBA history.
------------The $100 Million Club (Updated through 2011-2012 season)
- Shaquille O’Neal — $292,198,327
- Kevin Garnett — $291,362,398
- Kobe Bryant — $221,435,108
- Tim Duncan — $204,709,155
- Jason Kidd — $184,585,468
- Chris Webber — $178,230,697
- Ray Allen - $178,037,360
- Jermaine O’Neal — $165,441,840
- Tracy McGrady — $162,978,278
- Dirk Nowitzki — $160,435,476
- Rasheed Wallace — $156,758,400
- Vince Carter — $155,393,315
- Allen Iverson — $154,494,445
- Paul Pierce - $152,695,873
- Juwan Howard — $151,465,633
- Stephon Marbury — $151,115,945
- Alonzo Mourning — $143,906,333
- Dikembe Mutombo — $143,666,581
- Elton Brand — $143,178,277
- Grant Hill — $140,879,650
- Antawn Jamison — $139,793,908
- Rashard Lewis - $138,881,127
- Michael Finley — $138,576,839
- Baron Davis - $132,842,983
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas — $124,487,723
- Anfernee Hardaway — $120,469,142
- Patrick Ewing — $119,943,120*
- Gilbert Arenas -- $119,906,799
- Steve Nash -- $119,035,120
- Marcus Camby -- $119,024,322
- Pau Gasol -- $118,288,546
- Allan Houston — $117,556,500
- Antonio McDyess -- $116,638,859
- David Robinson — $116,500,123*
- Shawn Marion -- $115,525,112
- Joe Johnson -- $109,352,474
- Scottie Pippen -- $109,192,430
- Antoine Walker -- $108,142,015
- Lamar Odom -- $107,767,658
- Hakeem Olajuwon -- $107,011,426*
- Mike Bibby -- $107,093,621
- Gary Payton -- $104,367,619
- Karl Malone -- $104,133,378*
- Steve Francis -- $103,501,131
- Richard Hamilton --$103,166,043
- Jalen Rose -- $102,438,250
- Michael Redd -- $101,991,325
- Reggie Miller -- $101,311,748
- Eddie Jones -- $101,254,222
- Chauncey Billups -- $100,727,720
- Amare Stoudemire -- $100,659,029
All earnings are according to BasketballReference.com and do not include endorsements or outside endeavors. In addition, all figures are to date and do not consider future earnings, even if contractually guaranteed. So to to be clear, though not appearing in the above list, it's only a matter of time before Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Bosh, Howard, and Boozer join the ranks of the $100 million club.
*Due to incomplete data from the late 1980's, figures marked with an asterisk may be slightly off.
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