By admin 
Following his $304 million agreement with the Celtics, Jaylen Brown became the highest-paid NBA player in league history. But who has he surpassed?
The NBA has obviously evolved over time. Its players are now being paid lavishly as a result of its growing popularity, enormous TV deals, and incredible product and ticket sales.
Consider Michael Jordan’s lifetime earnings to get a sense of how much the NBA has risen in terms of player compensation.
During his 15-year NBA career, his Airness earned approximately $93 million. He could have earned slightly more had he not left the league in 1993-94 to pursue baseball or retired for three years from 1998 to 2001 before returning, but the point remains: the amount of money the greatest player ever made in his career pales in comparison to what the league’s top stars or even mid-tier players make today.
Consider Dillon Brooks’ $86 million contract with the Houston Rockets, which he signed in the 2023 offseason.
Meanwhile, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown signed has just signed a contract worth $304 million over five years. The deal will pay Brown almost $70 million in 2028-29 alone.
The NBA has definitely changed a lot, and players today have greatly benefited with the continuous growth of the league.
With that being said, and in light of Brown’s contract extension, we take a look at the five biggest contracts in NBA history. Obviously, all of them are modern contracts.
6. Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker
Contract: $224 million / Four years
Both Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker were drafted in 2015, and both have established themselves as the top players in their class. With that being said, it’s not surprising that they are tied on the list.
Towns and Booker became eligible for the supermax extension worth $224 million in 2022, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns didn’t hesitate in giving them that money they deserve, respectively. Besides, they met the necessary requirements to get such massive contract after making an All-NBA team the season prior.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Contract: $228 million/ Five years
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP, one-time NBA champion, one-time Finals MVP, one-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and a seven-time All-Star. Naturally, he deserves to be paid like what a top player should be.
Antetokounmpo signed his supermax extension worth $228 million over five years back in 2020 after winning two MVP awards. In the season before he reached the contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks, he was also coming off a year when he joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players ever in NBA history to win MVP and the DPOY award in the same season.
4. Bradley Beal
Contract: $251 million/ Five years
Loyalty (until at least 2022-23) really paid off for Bradley Beal as he secured the bag during the 2022 offseason.
In order to get every penny that he deserves, Beal opted out of the $36.4 million he had from the two-year $70.14 million extension he signed in 2019. After that, he quickly signed the veteran max extension where players can receive at least 35 percent of the team’s salary cap. As a result, Beal was able to land his five-year, $251 million contract as a free agent with the Washington Wizards.
3. Nikola Jokic
Contract: $270 million/ Five years
Before Jaylen Brown signed his massive Celtics extension, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was the highest-paid player in the NBA, and deservingly so.
When Jokic signed his five-year, $270 million supermax extension with the Nuggets, he was already a two-time MVP and a force to be reckoned with in the NBA.
2Jaylen Brown
Contract: $304 million/ Five years
Brown’s contract extension didn’t really come as a surprise. While it took some time since he was eligible to sign a new deal with the Celtics on July 1 after the 2023 free agency opened, it was never a question of how much he would get.
After the two sides agreed on the finer details of the deal—which include the Celtics getting some sort of control by not giving the star guard a player option in the final year unlike Jokic’s Nuggets deal—Brown finally signed his $304 million contract over five years that makes him the highest paid player in the NBA.
1What’s next for NBA?
Considering the consistent growth of the NBA, this list of the top five highest paid players in the league is expected to change sooner rather than later. The salary cap of the league always depends on the earnings of the Association, and since it doesn’t look like it’ll slow down any time soon, more money should come to the players.
According to CBS Sports, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might become the NBA’s first $400 million man. SGA, on the other hand, will have to wait until 2026, when he becomes eligible for an extension. To be eligible for the supermax extension, the scoring guard must maintain his high level of performance and meet the conditions.