Stephen Curry leads NBA earnings at $122.6 million as the top 20 clear $1.47 billion for 2026-27

Stephen Curry is averaging 30 points through six games at age 38, and the off-court ledger matches the on-court one. An annual ranking of NBA player earnings published Thursday puts him at $122.6 million for the 2026-27 season — $62.6 million in salary and $60 million in endorsements — and returns him to the top of the combined list after LeBron James held it last year. The same ranking projects that the league’s 20 highest earners will take home about $1.47 billion this season, a record total and a 4% bump from a year ago.

Stephen Curry leads all NBA players with projected earnings of $122.6 million in 2026-27. The top 20 should earn a combined $1.5 billion from salaries and off-court income.

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— Sportico (@Sportico) November 5, 2026

How Curry took the crown back

Curry’s $62.6 million base salary is the NBA’s highest for a 10th straight season. That streak is locked in for this year by the two-year, $116 million extension he signed with Golden State in September, a pact that came in about $20 million under the maximum he could have taken. His salary dips to $55.7 million next season under that deal, which is when Nikola Jokić’s player option is set to become the league’s top paycheck and end Curry’s decade on the salary leaderboard.

The bigger swing happened off the court. Curry’s long Under Armour agreement paid him through the end of 2025. In June he signed a 10-year deal with Chinese brand Li-Ning that Shams Charania reported at $400 million, with the Curry Brand expanding into golf and athleisure and stores planned in the United States and abroad. “This is bigger than a shoe deal, bigger than a signature series,” Curry said when he announced it. “This is the partnership of a lifetime.” His remaining portfolio still includes Google, Chase, Rakuten and Glaukos, plus his Unanimous Media production company.

LeBron’s $3.9 million salary and $85 million brand

James ranks fourth overall at $88.9 million even though his 76ers salary is only $3.9 million — 289th in the league among players with a listed base. His off-court income is listed at $85 million, the highest on the board, and he and Kevin Durant are the only two players in the top 20 who make more from brand partners than from their teams. James had the top combined ranking for 11 straight seasons before Curry briefly passed him in 2024-25, then took it back for 2025-26. The pay cut that followed his move to Philadelphia — about $49 million less than his last Lakers salary — is what opened the door for Curry this year.

The sponsor list has turned over. AT&T, Crypto.com, GMC and PepsiCo are out; Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, Polymarket and Whoop are in. James was one of Whoop’s first 100 users in 2015 and finally signed as a global ambassador 11 years later, a deal we covered when LeBron’s Whoop ambassador deal landed. Off-court dollars now make up 30% of the top-20 total.

The top 10, by the numbers

Here is the top of the ranking, with salary and endorsement splits as published Thursday:

Rank	Player	Team	Salary	Endorsements	Total
1	Stephen Curry	Warriors	$62.6M	$60M	$122.6M
2	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Heat	$58.5M	$50M	$108.5M
3	Kevin Durant	Rockets	$43.9M	$50M	$93.3M
4	LeBron James	76ers	$3.9M	$85M	$88.9M
5	Jayson Tatum	Celtics	$58.5M	$20M	$78.5M
6	Anthony Edwards	Timberwolves	$48.9M	$26M	$74.9M
7	Nikola Jokić	Nuggets	$59.0M	$10M	$69.0M
8	Jimmy Butler	Warriors	$56.8M	$12M	$68.8M
9	Devin Booker	Suns	$57.1M	$11M	$68.1M
10	Joel Embiid	76ers	$58.0M	$10M	$68.0M

Giannis Antetokounmpo sits second at $108.5 million in his first season with Miami after the trade out of Milwaukee, with more than 20 partners including Nike, PlayStation, Google, Castrol and Breitling, plus a new deal and investment with Kalshi. Durant is third at $93.3 million while Houston sits Houston’s tax-line payroll, a reminder that even a $43.9 million star salary can fit under a carefully built tax line. Tatum’s five-year, $313 million deal remains the largest contract in league history; Brown’s $285 million package is second.

Who moved, who dropped, and who collects while hurt

The top-20 roster is almost identical to last year. Jaylen Brown ($65.6 million) moved in at No. 14 after the trade that sent him to Philadelphia for Paul George ($59.1 million); Harden dropped out. A half-dozen players on the list are in new cities this season. Anthony Davis is now with Washington at $62 million total. Kawhi Leonard is with Toronto at $57.3 million after the Clippers investigation that cost Los Angeles five first-round picks and year-long suspensions for Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker.

Jimmy Butler ranks eighth at $68.8 million even though a torn ACL suffered in January will keep him off the floor until early 2027. He will collect the full $56.8 million salary; the league’s insurance policy covers 80% of a top player’s pay after 41 consecutive missed games, which softens the hit for Golden State while the club also manages Golden State’s decision to stop paying Kristaps Porziņģis. That is payroll risk management as much as it is star economics.

What the methodology leaves out — and what to watch

The ranking estimates off-court income from conversations with people familiar with endorsement deals, plus royalties, memorabilia, appearances, media and celebrity-tied businesses. Investment income is excluded unless it is tied to an endorsement. Salaries are base figures only — no playoff bonuses or incentives — and the 10% escrow withhold is not deducted, even though the league kept 55% of the $580 million escrow pool from 2025-26, a 5.5% haircut for every player.

Three numbers will move next. Jokić’s 2027-28 player option is on track to end Curry’s 10-year salary lead. Curry’s own paycheck falls to $55.7 million next year under the September extension. And the top-20 combined total would have grown more than 7% instead of 4% if James still carried a max-level playing salary. For a league whose national media deals are already feeding a $165 million salary cap this season, the off-court half of the ledger is no longer a side story — it is where the gap between No. 1 and No. 20 is really made.