AP Photo/Tony Avelar
By now, everyone understands people in sports get paid. Whether you are a Texas high school football coach or a backup quarterback in the NFL, money gets tossed around like life is one gigantic board game. However, when you breakdown what the top athletes earn, it will definitely make you wonder why you couldn’t be them, even just for one year.
Being a superstar athlete at the highest level is basically like winning the lottery. The amount of money a franchise forks out to make sure you play for them is downright insane at times. Golden State Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry is the perfect example of that.
Prior to the 2017-18 season, the 6-foot-3 NBA All-Star point guard inked a then-record five-year, $201 million contract to keep him in the Bay Area during his prime. It was an obvious decision for the franchise considering Wardell Stephen Curry won two NBA Most Valuable Player awards and won two NBA championships for the Warriors.
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After winning yet another NBA Finals over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, Curry’s salary became the highest in the league for the 2018-19 campaign and Golden State’s quest for the coveted and rare three-peat.
His salary? $37,457,154
Of course, the 30-year-old Curry doesn’t take home every penny. Not even close, actually. But still, it’s a ton of money for the five-time NBA All-Star and former Consensus All-American for the Davidson Wildcats.
Here is how his current NBA salary breaks down before taxes:
Steph Curry makes $3,121,429.50 per month.
Steph Curry makes $102,622.34 per day.
Steph Curry makes $4,275.93 per hour.
Steph Curry makes $71.27 per minute.
Steph Curry makes $1.18 per second.
Impressed? How about this:
Steph Curry makes $456,794.56 per game during the 82-game season, excluding the NBA playoffs.
That’s insane. And it doesn’t even include any of the two-time MVP’s endorsements with Under Armour, or sponsorships with eHi Car Rental, Chase, and Nissan Motor, according to Forbes.
Curry never has to dribble the basketball again and his wife and three kids, along with agent Jeff Austin, would still be set for life out in California.
Considering the average household income in the United States is just over $62,000, it’s safe to say Curry makes more in one game than some American families do in a decade.
Curry isn’t the only NBA player to make Monopoly-like money, either. Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin, Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Oklahoma City forward Paul George, Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley, Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant all are set to make at least $30 million this season.
Yes, there’s a lot of money in the NBA, and nobody gets paid to play more right now than Curry.
