The average salary in the NBA has been on a steady rise from 1991 up until the 2018/19 season.
Based on a research by Dimitrije Curcic of RunRepeat, the salary of the NBA players has been significantly increased over the past 18 years.
Here are some key points of the research:
- The average salary in the NBA has been increased more than 7x since the 1990-91 season. Median salary has slower growth than the average; this could suggest that the financial gap between the top talents and the rest is getting larger.
- NBA centers are the highest-paid players in the league, while shooting guards are on the other end of the list. Small forwards and point guards have the largest salary discrepancies among the positions.
- NBA centers dominate the list of the highest-paid players per minute played, game played, and point scored. On the other hand, both guard positions are at the top of cost-effective analysis, providing most minutes, games, and points for every earned $.
- Players coming from Wake Forest University averaged the highest salaries in the NBA since 1991; Georgetown’s players average the highest %-of-cap salaries. Connecticut has the highest median salary since 1991, with California leading this aspect in %-of-cap salary.
- Akron is the city whose players average the highest NBA salaries since 1991 with $12.67 million (17,8% of cap).
- Melbourne, Australia ($6.23 million) and Kaunas, Lithuania (12.5% of cap) are international cities with the highest average salaries from their NBA players.
- Indiana ($4.93 million) and South Carolina (10.6 % of cap) are the states whose players have the highest earnings in the NBA.
- NBA players from Spain ($7.66 million) and Nigeria (13.1% of cap) have the highest earnings in the league since 1991 among the countries.
*This research was conducted by the Basketball content director of RunRepeat, Dimitrije Curcic. You can read it here
