Michael Jordan’s $33.1 million contract in 97-98 season stayed the highest salary in the NBA until 2018

Akash Murty | 17/08/2022
Michael Jordan's $33.1 million contract in 97-98 season stayed the highest salary in the NBA until 2018

A $93 million career earning is not much for a top GOAT candidate, but Michael Jordan earned his fair share during his second stint with the Bulls.

Michael Jordan is not only the richest basketball player in the world, with a net worth of over $2.2 billion, but the Air Jordan juggernaut is also THE richest athlete in the world.

None of the players in the NBA was yet making much from their contracts during the time he played in the league. Believe it or not “His Airness” made under $10 million in his 3-years of championship successes from 1991 to 1993 before he took a break from basketball.

That amount was significantly less than the money he was making outside of basketball just a few years after entering the league in 1984. That might have been one of the reasons for his confusion about continuing his basketball career or not, while he was just about to enter his 10th year in the league.

But after retiring at the peak of his career in 1993 and not finding any comparative success in Baseball, he did find it tough to stay away from what he was best at and made a comeback in 1995. A year later, he did get the bag he deserved.

Also read: StatMuse reveals the player with most 25/5/5 Playoffs games and LeBron James has almost twice as much as Michael Jordan

 

Michael Jordan made $33 million in the 97-98 season which stayed the highest salary in the NBA for 20 years

After making his comeback in 95′ and falling short in the 1995 Playoffs, he, Pippen and a significantly different Bulls won the 1996 championship to make it their 4th in 6 years.

That didn’t go unrewarded for the then 4x Finals MVP. The bulls gave him a 1-year $30.1 million contract extension which at the time was literally higher than the total salaries of the rest of the teams in the league.

Jordan returned the favour with yet another Championship in 1997 and got a $3 million raise over his last cheque for the 97-98′ season. That $33.1 million a year contract stayed the highest an NBA player would ever earn until 2018.

And obviously, MJ did win them their 6th championship for breaking the bank for him. They had to do it, otherwise, the Knicks would have swooped him after he came back.

Jordan did make at least 24 times more money than his total career NBA earnings of $93M making himself not only the arguable GOAT athlete but the richest of them all.

Also read: 6’6″ Michael Jordan scored the game winning fadeaway in his last ever All-Star game

Post Edited By: Raahib Singh
90s NBA Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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