The top NBA stars can be regarded as a cash cow, and among the active players, Curry is even more so. He was the '09 draft, and when he first entered the league, the Warriors had poor results, few spectators, and a low market value. However, as Curry made a name for himself and gained super popularity and honors, the Warriors' market value soared, the team was full of revenue, and the owner counted the money and had cramps. Curry's salary is naturally full, so Curry has been the No. 1 in the NBA for 8 years, why is Lao Zhan the No. 1 in only 1 of his 21 seasons? The answer is heart-wrenching.
Curry is the face of the Warriors and the signature of the NBA. After the end of the 4-year 44 million cabbage contract, Curry's ability to absorb money is the top in the league. Won the MVP+ championship in 15 years, became the unanimous MVP in 16 years, and led the Warriors to two consecutive championships in 17 and 18 years. It was also around that time that the Warriors signed Curry to a five-year, $201 million contract. And in 2021, the Warriors offered Curry a super-cap salary of $215 million for four years.
As a result, Curry has been the first in the league in terms of salary for 8 consecutive years since 18. His salary was $34.68 million in '18, $37.46 million in '19, $40.23 million in '20, $43.01 million in '21, and $45.78 million in '22. Curry's salary in '23 is $48.07 million, '24 is $51.92 million, and next year's Curry's salary is $55.76 million. This also set an all-time record in the NBA, but James played for 21 years, but only 1 year, ranking first in the league in salary, why is that?
First of all, let's understand the NBA's maximum salary mechanism, which is linked to seniority. For players with 0-6 years of service, the maximum starting salary is up to 25% of the salary cap. For players who have been with 7-9 years, the starting salary of the maximum salary is up to 30% of the salary cap. For veterans who have been with the service for more than 10 years, the starting salary of the maximum salary can reach up to 35% of the salary cap. Therefore, if you want to have a high annual salary, the first element is "veteran".
The second is the bird right, the player who has played for the parent team for 3 years or more, the team has the bird right. For players with bird rights, the parent team can renew their contracts first, and ignore the salary cap limit. It is worth mentioning that the contract of a player who does not have bird rights cannot exceed 4 years. Players with bird rights can sign a five-year super-max contract. In the NBA contract, most of the annual salary is increasing year by year, and the increase is within 10.5%. So the longer the contract, the higher the final annual salary.
The starting salary of the new contract must also be combined with the previous contract, in other words, the higher the annual salary of the previous year, the higher the starting salary of the new contract. Therefore, the contract of the bird right player is naturally getting higher and higher.
Overall, I want to be the salary king of the league. There are 3 factors to be met, namely "veteran", "infrequent team change" and "signing long-term contracts", and players like James and Durant have undoubted strength and influence, but they often change teams and often sign short-term contracts, so it is difficult to become the league's salary king.