Highest Paid NBA 2020 Players Revealed: Who Topped the Salary Rankings?

When I first saw the salary figures for the 2020 NBA season, I have to admit my jaw dropped a little. Stephen Curry's $43 million paycheck from the Golden State Warriors wasn't just impressive—it was revolutionary, setting a new benchmark for what elite athletes could earn. As someone who's followed basketball salaries for over a decade, I've watched these numbers climb steadily, but 2020 represented something different entirely. The top ten earners collectively pulled in over $300 million, with Chris Paul landing at $41 million despite being in his mid-30s. These aren't just contracts—they're statements about value, impact, and the evolving economics of professional sports.

What fascinates me most about these salary rankings isn't just the raw numbers, but what they represent about adaptation and specialization in modern basketball. Reading about volleyball players discussing how "everybody hits really different, everybody has a different skillset" immediately reminded me of the NBA's current landscape. Each top-earner brings something utterly unique to their team—Curry's revolutionary three-point shooting, LeBron's court vision, Giannis's physical dominance—and their salaries reflect this specialized value. The real challenge for teams isn't just paying for talent, but paying for the right combination of distinct skills that complement each other. I've always believed that the most successful teams understand this balance intuitively, much like a volleyball team adapting to different hitters' styles mid-game.

Looking specifically at the top five earners reveals fascinating patterns about how the league values different roles. Stephen Curry ($43,006,362) led the pack, followed by Chris Paul ($41,358,814), Russell Westbrook ($41,358,814), John Wall ($41,254,920), and James Harden ($41,254,920). What strikes me about this group is how they represent different solutions to the same problem—creating offensive advantage. Curry does it with unprecedented shooting range, Paul with surgical precision in pick-and-roll situations, Westbrook with explosive athleticism, and Harden with step-back threes and foul-drawing craft. Their massive salaries reflect not just production, but the unique problems they solve for their teams.

The middle tier of top earners—Kevin Durant ($37,199,000), LeBron James ($37,436,858), and Blake Griffin ($36,595,996)—tells another part of the story. What I find particularly interesting here is how these players have transformed their games over time. Durant returned from a devastating Achilles injury to maintain elite production, LeBron evolved from pure athletic marvel to basketball savant, and Griffin reinvented himself from dunk specialist to skilled facilitator. Their ability to adapt reminds me of that volleyball concept—"adapting to that on the fly"—and their salaries reward this versatility. In today's NBA, I'd argue that the ability to evolve might be as valuable as raw talent.

When we examine the international players in the top earners—Giannis Antetokounmpo ($27,528,088) and Kristaps Porzingis ($27,285,000)—we see the globalization of talent valuation. Giannis, in particular, represents what I consider the perfect storm of modern basketball value: defensive versatility, transition dominance, and continuous skill development. His salary, while substantial, actually seems like a bargain given his two MVP awards and transformative impact on the Bucks franchise. The way international players have reshaped salary structures demonstrates how the NBA has become truly global in its talent acquisition and compensation strategies.

The financial landscape for role players and specialists also saw significant shifts in 2020. Players like Tobias Harris ($32,742,000) and Kyle Lowry ($31,000,000) commanded salaries that would have been franchise-player numbers just five years earlier. This reflects what I see as the increasing value of high-level complementary talent—the players who might not be superstars but possess specific skills that elevate entire systems. Harris's reliable scoring and Lowry's leadership and defensive intelligence represent the kind of specialized value that championship teams increasingly depend upon.

What often gets overlooked in salary discussions is the timing and structure of these contracts. Russell Westbrook's identical salary to Chris Paul—$41,358,814—occurred despite their being at very different career stages. This reflects careful contract negotiation and timing, elements that casual fans might miss but that dramatically impact team construction. I've always been fascinated by how front offices balance current production against future decline, making bets on which players' skills will age gracefully versus those who might fall off precipitously.

The relationship between salary and team success presents what I consider the most compelling tension in these numbers. The highest-paid players weren't always on the most successful teams—John Wall's massive contract coincided with Washington's struggles, while lower-paid stars like Nikola Jokic ($29,542,010) led their teams to greater competitive success. This disconnect highlights the complex relationship between individual compensation and collective achievement, a dynamic that front offices navigate with varying degrees of success.

Reflecting on these salaries in the context of the pandemic-affected season adds another layer of complexity. The NBA's financial ecosystem faced unprecedented challenges, yet these pre-negotiated contracts remained largely intact. This speaks to the stability of the league's revenue sharing and broadcasting agreements, even in turbulent times. From my perspective, the resilience of these salary structures during global disruption demonstrates the remarkable strength of the NBA's business model.

As I analyze these numbers, I keep returning to that volleyball analogy about different hitters and adapting to varied skillsets. The NBA's salary structure increasingly rewards not just production, but unique problem-solving capabilities. Stephen Curry's shooting creates spacing no other player can provide, Giannis's defensive versatility allows schemes otherwise impossible, and Chris Paul's leadership elevates teams in ways that transcend statistics. The highest salaries go to players who offer solutions that can't be replicated, much like volleyball teams relying on hitters with completely different approaches and skills.

The evolution of NBA salaries tells a broader story about sports economics, specialization, and value. What began as simple compensation for athletic performance has transformed into complex valuation of unique skillsets and their systemic impacts. The 2020 season represented both the culmination of previous trends and the beginning of new ones, with salaries reflecting not just what players do, but how irreplaceable their particular contributions are. As the league continues evolving, I expect we'll see even greater premium placed on specialized skills that defy conventional positional definitions, rewarding players who bring truly unique capabilities to their teams.