Who is the NBA’s highest-paid player? Steph Curry, Lebron James lead the pack of top earners

It pays to play in the National Basketball Association. In fact, NBA players are on average the highest-paid athletes in the world, according to Statista.com. The average salary in the NBA for the 2021-2022 season is $7.3 million.

The top ten highest salaries in the NBA for the 2021-2022 season are all north of $39 million, including superstars Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.

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But who brings home the biggest bag, really?

Well, that depends on how you choose to slice it. If we’re talking who is the highest paid by an NBA franchise? Then Curry, who in August signed a guaranteed four-year $215 million extension with the Warriors, leads the pack by most accounts.

If we consider off-the-court deals, James is far and away the top guy, according to Forbes.

Here are Spotrac.com’s 10 highest paid NBA players based on their average annual value, which takes a player’s contract and divides it by the contract’s number of years.

By this calculation, Philadelphia center Joel Embiid trails only Curry on the list. Embiid signed a mega contract worth nearly $196 million over four years with the 76ers in August.

Fifth on the list is reigning NBA champ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek power forward who led the Bucks’ roaring comeback against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals after being down two games to zero in the best-of-seven series. Antetokounmpo signed a five-year, $228 million contract extension in 2020.

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Highest-paid NBA players by AAV (average annual value):

1. Stephen Curry, Golden State…