The richest NBA players of 2025, ranked
These guys didn't just make money, they knew what to do with it
By Cayle Reid
IT’S NO SECRET that NBA players make a lot of money. The highest paid player in the league, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, currently ears $109 million AUD per year. A decade on a contract like that and you’ve entered rarified air as a billionaire.
Even so, the richest NBA players don’t just make their money on the court. The smart, business savvy ones expand their revenue streams by making shrewd investments, signing sponsorship deals and building their personal brands. Some of them even launch their own brands, which are now among the world’s most recognisable – more on that later.
So, who is the richest NBA payer of all time? Scroll on to find out.
All figures are estimates only, have been converted to AUD and are accurate as of August 15, 2025.
Who are the richest NBA players in 2025?
10. Stephen Curry
Net worth: $385 million
Steph Curry has been on one of the NBA’s highest salaries for nearly a decade. Couple that with an investment portfolio that includes JP Morgan and Nissan stocks, as well as a lucrative endorsement deal with Under Armour, and you have your reason for Curry already being on this list.
9. Hakeem Olajuwon
Net worth: $450 million
The Dream was one of the NBA’s highest earning players in the ’90s, but salaries have skyrocketed since then. He earns his spot on this list by making money off the court, thanks to his real estate empire (which is literally called Concrete Empire) based in Houston.
8. Kevin Durant
Net worth: $452 million
Kevin Durant has made most of his net worth from the sizable contracts he’s been on for most of his career. His off-court activity is impressive too. He has a huge endorsement deal with Nike and has his own company, Thirty Five Ventures. He’s invested in a food delivery app, a fintech company, a spare change investment venture and Sparta Science.
7. Russell Westbrook
Net worth: $461 million
Russell Westbrook has made around $385 million during his basketball career, among the most of any player in history. He also has an endorsement deal with Nike, a fashion line called Honour The Gift, and owns commercial real estate in Oklahoma City.
6. Vinnie Johnson
Net worth: $500 million
Vinnie Johnson’s highest salary while he was in the NBA was only around $1 million. So, how does he end up on this list? It’s because he found a niche in Detroit’s manufacturing industry. He launched Piston Group in 1995, an automotive parts manufacturer that is now a major supplier for General Motors and Ford.
5. Shaquille O’Neal
Net worth: $768 million
Shaq was once the highest paid player in the NBA. He’s made the most of his endorsement deals, too. He gets paid by Reebok, Cadillac, Pepsi, Icy Hot pain-killer patches and owns a number of restaurant chains. Plus, his career in the entertainment business as on-air talent has paid dividends.
4. Junior Bridgeman
Net worth: $925 million
Junior Bridgeman passed away earlier this year, but we’re going to keep him on this list anyway because he is probably the most surprisingly rich NBA player of all time. Unless you’re amongst the hardest of hardcore NBA fans, you’d be forgiven if you hadn’t heard the name Junior Bridgeman before now. The six foot five swingman was the eighth pick in the 1975 draft and had a respectable career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers spanning 13 years, but he was nothing special. In his best season, Bridgeman averaged a little under 18 points per game, and he never earned any major accolades. As you might’ve guessed, most of Bridgeman’s net worth did not come from his time on the court, especially because he played in an era predating the modern age of mouth-watering contracts. Bridgeman made his millions as a Wendy’s and Chilli’s franchisee, a Coca-Cola investor, and as the owner of Ebony and Jet magazines.
3. LeBron James
Net worth: $1.84 billion
LeBron has the highest net worth of any active NBA player. Endorsements with Nike, AT&T, Pepsi and Walmart, as well as part-ownership of a pizza franchise and English football team Liverpool, earn LeBron nearly two-thirds of his yearly revenue.
2. Magic Johnson
Net worth: $2.3 billion
As one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson made a decent share of his net worth during his playing days, although his business mind rivals his on-court abilities. Magic runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a vast investment conglomerate worth upwards of $1 billion. Magic has made the most of his sporting reputation to expand into the business world, and he’s one of the richest athletes in the world as a result.
1. Michael Jordan
Net worth: $5.4 billion
There’s a debate to be had over whether Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time, but what isn’t up for debate is the fact that he has the highest net worth of any NBA player – and any athlete in general, for that matter. Jordan’s initial wealth came from his playing days, when he was the most marketed athlete in history. Jordan’s endorsements, and his role in Space Jam, netted him a considerable amount of his current net worth, but the majority of his riches comes from the royalties he receives from the Jordan brand, which has grown to become a global enterprise. The Jordan brand generates over $8 billion in revenue every year, and Michael Jordan receives enough of that money to ensure he’ll never have to work for the rest of his life, if he so pleases.
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