Shaquille O’Neal was paid a whopping 17.1 million a year in 2000 – OG Anunoby makes more than that in today’s market.
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Shaquille O’Neal was viewed as a money-hungry athlete when he signed his ridiculous deal with the Lakers in 2000. The deal saw him make 100+ million over 7 years, which put his salary per year at right around 17 million a year. For that kind of cash, he could buy anything he wanted. But compared to today’s salary, Shaq would cry if he got paid the same as rookies get after their extension.
We are looking at a rising trend in salaries—Are we closer to our first 100 million-dollar-a-year player? Data suggests we are closer than we think because Damian Lillard just signed an extension that makes him an eye-watering 63 million a year in 2026-27. That amount of money will get you a 16000 sq. ft. ultra-luxurious upper east side apartment in New York. And a cool 3 million in change for a couple of Lamborghinis to fill up the garage.
Dame makes more money in a year than Adobe’s CEO-for dribbling and shooting a ball into a net. And not even for 82 games a season, because he stays injured for most of it. Sure, he gets the views to back his numbers up, but what would you rather have? Better creative tools in the market or watching Dame take shots at the logo? Basketball is a highly skewed sports market because the NFL has more viewership!
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Shaquille O’Neal would be the guy to get 100 million a year if he played today
The funny part about salaries is that just 5 years ago, we had the highest salary cap at 34 million. Just 10 years after Stephen Curry was the best-paid player on the planet, we’ve seen the value double. There is no way Dame will be twice as good as Steph in 2017, especially when he turns 37. Portland did it out of gratitude, repaying him for the faith shown. Unlike the Celtics, they know how to treat a player.
But putting the PG from Oregon aside, some legit superstars will come into their prime in 5 years. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Ja Morant are all big-name players who are still young enough to see at least three more big contracts. With the way things are progressing, one of these players will surely rise to that $100 million mark sooner rather than later.
It is not a question of if, but when. Whether it is an exponential curve or a linear one, the number must be breached. Unless there are some severe salary caps to be discussed. The players are already getting paid more than 50% of the total revenue generated. If the CBA puts a hard stop to rising salaries, we may see the trend stop abruptly. Until then, we can only see those numbers in GTA V’s remaster of the remaster or NBA 2K, which will still suck in five years.
Also Read: Shaquille O’Neal will babysit your kid for $200, and he is good at it
