DESPITE accepting a paycut of nearly $7 million, the Los Angeles Lakers’ battle-scarred, injury-plagued superstar Kobe Bryant remains the highest-salaried player in the U.S. National Basketball Association during the 2014-15 season.
The third all-time leading scorer in NBA regular-season history, the 6-foot-7, 36-year-old Bryant’s 19th pro season came to an abrupt halt following surgery to repair a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder that he suffered during a January 21, 2015 road game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
For the season, he posted averages of 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 35 games.
Bryant missed the entire 2013 playoffs after sustaining a torn left Achilles tendon against Golden State in a regular contest in April that year. He was held to six assignments in 2013-14 (all in December) due to a fractured bone in his left knee he suffered against Memphis on December 17, 2013.
Last campaign, Bryant bankrolled $30,453,805 to become only the second player in league annals (after Michael Jordan in 1996-97 and 1997-98, both with the Chicago Bulls) to be paid $30 million or more in a single season.
On November 25, 2013, Bryant inked a two-year, $48.5-million contract extension (effective 2014-15) with the Lakers that could make him the first player ever to suit up for 20 seasons with a single team in 2015-16 (granting he does not decide to hang up his jersey this summer).
Bryant was eligible to receive an extension starting at $32 million annually but opted to take a salary reduction instead.
Aside from Bryant, six other players are earning at least $20 million this season. They are the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Johnson ($23,180,790), the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (out for the season since the All-Star break, $22,458,401), the Houston Rockets’ Dwight Howard ($21,436,271), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James ($20,644,400), the Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh (out for the season, $20,644,400), and the LA Clippers’ Chris Paul ($20,068,563).
Rounding out the top 10 on the NBA salary list are 8-Brooklyn’s Deron Williams ($19,754,465), 9-Sacramento’s Rudy Gay ($19,317,326) and 10-Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant ($18,995,624).
The Second Ten is composed of Chicago’s Derrick Rose ($18,862,876), the LA Clippers’ Blake Griffin ($17,674,613), Memphis’ Zach Randolph ($16,500,000), Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge ($16,256,000), Indiana’s Paul George (out since Day One, $15,925,680), Memphis’ Marc Gasol ($15,829,688), Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez ($15,719,062), Cleveland’s Kevin Love ($15,719,062), Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook ($15,719,062) and Golden State’s David Lee ($15,012,000).
Completing the list of the 30 highest-paid players in the NBA season are Miami’s Dwyane Wade ($15,000,000), Indiana’s Roy Hibbert ($14,898,938), New Orleans’ Eric Gordon ($14,898,938), Dallas’ Tyson Chandler ($14,846,887), Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins ($14,746,000), Utah’s Gordon Hayward ($14,746,000), Washington’s John Wall ($14,746,000), Houston’s James Harden ($14,728,844), Dallas’ Chandler Parsons ($14,700,000), and Charlotte’s Al Jefferson ($13,500,000).
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