The NBA may still be behind the NFL and Major League Baseball in terms of generating revenue, but thanks to skyrocketing TV contracts and smaller rosters, an NBA career can be quite lucrative.
This is especially true for the athletes who played a large chunk of their careers between the late 1990s and the 2011 lockout.
While many of the all-time greats of the past 20 years are among the highest paid of all time, these years also led to some large contracts for players who are not among the all-time greats.
Here is a look at the 25 players who have made at least $158 million, according to data collected from Spotrac and Basketball-Reference:
25. Rasheed Wallace ― $158,110,581
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Seasons: 16
Highest single-season salary: $17 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 4
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
24. Chris Paul ― $158,226,325
Seasons: 12
Highest single-season salary: $22.9 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 9
NBA First-team All-NBA: 4
23. Tyson Chandler ― $158,586,645
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Seasons: 16
Highest single-season salary: $14.8 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 1
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
22. Vince Carter ― $159,087,631
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $18.3 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 8
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
21. Amar’e Stoudemire ― $161,628,892
Seasons: 14
Highest single-season salary: $23.4 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 6
NBA First-team All-NBA: 1
20. Tracy McGrady ― $162,978,278
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Seasons: 15
Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 7
NBA First-team All-NBA: 2
19. Elton Brand — $164,901,096
Seasons: 16
Highest single-season salary: $17.1 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 2
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
18. Jermaine O’Neal ― $168,794,021
Seasons: 18
Highest single-season salary: $23 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 6
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
17. Zach Randolph ― $172,597,245
Seasons: 15
Highest single-season salary: $17.8 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 2
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
16. Dwyane Wade ― $176,115,934
Seasons: 14
Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million
Championships: 3
All-Star Games: 12
NBA First-team All-NBA: 2
15. Chris Webber ― $178,230,697
Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
Seasons: 15
Highest single-season salary: $19.1 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 5
NBA First-team All-NBA: 1
14. Pau Gasol — $182,999,615
Seasons: 16
Highest single-season salary: $19.3 million
Championships: 2
All-Star Games: 6
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
13. Ray Allen ― $184,356,410
Seasons: 18
Highest single-season salary: $18.8 million
Championships: 2
All-Star Games: 10
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
12. Dwight Howard — $186,735,761
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Seasons: 13
Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 8
NBA First-team All-NBA: 5
11. Chris Bosh — $186,936,512
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Seasons: 14
Highest single-season salary: $23.7 million
Championships: 2
All-Star Games: 11
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
10. Jason Kidd ― $187,675,468
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $21.4 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 10
NBA First-team All-NBA: 5
9. Paul Pierce ― $194,035,952
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $19.8 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 10
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
8. LeBron James ― $200,607,292
Seasons: 14
Highest single-season salary: $31.0 million
Championships: 3
All-Star Games: 13
NBA First-team All-NBA: 10
7. Carmelo Anthony ― $201,120,659
Seasons: 14
Highest single-season salary: $24.6 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 10
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
6. Joe Johnson — $203,542,249
Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images
Seasons: 16
Highest single-season salary: $24.9 million
Championships: 0
All-Star Games: 7
NBA First-team All-NBA: 0
5. Tim Duncan ― $238,262,300
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $22.2 million
Championships: 5
All-Star Games: 15
NBA First-team All-NBA: 10
4. Dirk Nowitzki ― $241,646,362
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $25.0 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 13
NBA First-team All-NBA: 4
3. Shaquille O’Neal ― $286,344,668
Seasons: 19
Highest single-season salary: $27.7 million
Championships: 4
All-Star Games: 15
NBA First-team All-NBA: 8
2. Kobe Bryant ― $323,312,307
Seasons: 20
Highest single-season salary: $30.5 million
Championships: 5
All-Star Games: 18
NBA First-team All-NBA: 11
1. Kevin Garnett ― $326,362,956
Kevin Garnett has a lot to smile about.AP
Seasons: 21
Highest single-season salary: $28 million
Championships: 1
All-Star Games: 15
NBA First-team All-NBA: 4
By: Cork Gaines
c/o Business Insider
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