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NBA Players: 5 Superstars who will surprisingly earn less than $30 million this season

A larger presence off the court effectively adds to the players' on-court salaries.
A larger presence off the court effectively adds to the players' on-court salaries.

NBA personalities are known to efficiently utilize their offseasons to stack up greens via endorsements, investments and explore a plethora of avenues before the grueling regular season kicks off. Tracing the learning curve in the league, players often emerge as promising franchise cornerstones, which eventually results in their organization rewarding them with max contracts of loyalty.

The 2018-19 season saw many prominent names turn into megastars through their diligence and accomplishments on the court. However, more often than not, the contract structure in the NBA makes sure the player's rise to glory is not proportionally matched by their salaries, thereby leading to an inevitable mismatch.

Now that the 2019-20 season lies just around the corner, it makes perfect sense to quantify the monetary aspect of the stardom written all over the previous season.


#5 Giannis Antetokounmpo - $25,842,697

Giannis earned just $8.6 million(approximately) on his four-year rookie deal
Giannis earned just $8.6 million(approximately) on his four-year rookie deal

Just over the last few seasons, the Greek Freak's insane work ethic has bagged him three straight All-Star nods, a Most Improved Player award, couple of All-NBA selections and finally, the Most Valuable Player award just recently. Now that Antetokounmpo has officially catapulted himself into superstardom, it would surprise many to know that he got paid $24,157,303 for his MVP year and is slated to make another $25,842,697 during the upcoming season.

In fact, the four-year, $100 million extension that he signed in September of 2016 runs through the 2020-21 campaign, stating his 2020-21 season salary to be $27.5 million - still under a lucrative $30 million check - before he qualifies for a supermax contract in July of 2021.

Giannis' NBA salary took a huge leap forward in 2016, but apparently, it still couldn't trace his exponential surge to greatness in a relatively short period of time.

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