Our latest report focuses on the earnings per minute in one of the most popular sports across the globe – basketball. The sport is most developed in the USA, where the NBA attracts the best players worldwide with its financial appeal and mammoth long-term contracts. SportingPedia‘s team put the 10 players with biggest contracts for the already concluded 21/22 season under the scope. These top players pocketed a combined sum just shy of half a billion dollars. We took into consideration how much time the 10 players spent on the court in the past 12 months to figure out their earnings per minute. e5v3l
Key Takeaways: 665w5c
- Russell Westbrook has the best value for money on the list (skills & contribution not included)
- There is not a single Big man (Center) on the list
- Point Guard is the best-paid position, with 5 such players finding a place on the list
- The list also features 4 Small Forwards and 1 Power Forward
- NBA Finals MVP Steph Curry took home over $20K for each of the 2,211 minutes he played in the regular season, almost 2 times less than Damian Lillard
- 2 of the 10 highest-paid NBA players did not play a single minute, as they sat out the season with injuries
- Only 4 of the players on the list reached the play-offs – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, James Harden & Kevin Durant
- 70% of the highest-paid 10 players represented teams from the Western Conference
Below you will find the 10 NBA players with the heftiest contracts for 21/22 season, how much time on the court each of them spent and the average amount in USD they were paid per minute of game time. We used data from Statmusе and Spotrac to come up with the list of the players having the most lucrative financial packages.


Houston Rockets


Los Angeles Clippers


Portland Trail Blazers


Los Angeles Clippers


Golden State Warriors


Brooklyn Nets


Los Angeles Lakers


Philadephia 76ers


Milwaukee Bucks


Los Angeles Lakers
Right now, the talking point in the NBA is the ongoing Summer League. The Summer League gives teams the chance to watch their freshly-drafted players for the first time in action, while the stars and proven players observe and prepare for another intense season.
The main highlight of the past 75th NBA betting season was the Golden State Warriors’ triumph in six games over the Boston Celtics, with Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguadala and Steph Curry earning their 4th rings, all with the Warriors. Curry began the 21/22 NBA season as the player with the biggest pay check. #30 led the Golden State to their 4th title in the last 7 years and on a personal level earned his first “Bill Russell Finals MVP” award. He’s been twice crowned as the Most Valuable Player across the regular season and finally added the missing piece to his fully-packed trophy case. With a string of dazzling and match winning performances Steph has stirred a discussion whether he deserves a place among the All Time Top 10 after a decade of dominance and after literally changing the way the basketball game is played.
While Curry did everything he was asked, delivering yet another title to the city of San Francisco, some of the players on the list did not justify the large amounts they signed for. Highly criticized for the performances and the numbers he posted in his debut season with the LA Lakers, it turns out that Russell Westbrook had the best dollar per minutes ratio of the highest-earning players in the NBA. Others like Kawhi Leonard and John Wall did not feature even for a single minute, as they had to sit out the whole season with injuries. Find here some of the highest rated sports betting sites where to bet on NBA.
#1 John Wall – PG – Houston Rockets 4h4s6t
0 minutes; $44,310,840 contract 4f6k4v
#2 Kawhi Leonard – SF – Los Angeles Clippers 6j6g3
0 minutes; $39,344,900 contract 103w4q
#0 Damian Lillard – PG – Portland Trail Blazers 574671
$37,258 per minute; 1056 minutes 465q9
#13 Paul George – SF – Los Angeles Clippers 6j6q2r
$36,532 per minute; 1077 minutes 4b4456
#30 – Stephen Curry – PG – Golden State Warriors 1o304j
$20,706 per minute; 2211 minutes 67556q
#7 Kevin Durant – SF – Brooklyn Nets 4g2fr
$20,527 per minute; 2047 minutes 65q2b
#23 LeBron James – SF – Los Angeles Lakers 5l6s4z
$19,760 per minute; 2084 minutes 2f6q29
#1 – James Harden – SG – Philadelphia 76ers 6x5yl
$18,310 per minute; 2420 minutes 4f6t6o
#34 Giannis Antetokounmpo – PF – Milwaukee Bucks 53030
$17,852 per minute; 2204 minutes 266a
#0 Russell Westbrook – PG – Los Angeles Lakers 6d1y56
$16,509 per minute; 2678 minutes 4b2u64