"$100 million a year here, shortly" - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expects players to make nine figures annually after upcoming cap spike
Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban made a bold prediction about the future of NBA salaries. He sat down with Shannon Sharpe on Wednesday's episode of his "Club Shay Shay" show.
Cuban said that as long as the TV deals keep going up, players will earn more money yearly and even more than their teams' owners.
"[17:56] Yeah, yeah. For sure. That presumes that TV keeps on going the way it is, but you're going to see $100 million a year here, shortly," Cuban said. "Because if the TV contract has 10% increase in the cap the way the CBA works, right? And you saw Steph [Curry] had $62 million for one year. When Luka [Doncic] and [Jayson] Tatum and all these guys...
"It's going to go crazier, like this coming year is still old CBA, old TV money, right? Once that new TV money kicks in, they'll be making more money a year than I will. These guys are going to be like, 'I don't care how many billions you got,' 'I don't have a real job,' and I'm not making $100 million every year. You're gonna have players making more than the owners."
The NBA has broken the record for the largest contract ever three years in a row, first with Nikola Jokic signing a five-year $264 million deal in 2022. A year later, Jaylen Brown agreed to a five-year $285 million deal with the Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum then broke the record this year after he signed a five-year $314 million contract with the Celtics fresh off winning his first NBA championship.
Mark Cuban has strong criticism for Donald Trump
Besides keeping himself involved in the NBA, Mark Cuban is also paying close attention to everything happening in the United States regarding politics. With the 2024 Presidential elections nearing, Cuban was very critical of Donald Trump's plan to impose a tariff on every product not made in the country during an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen on Sept. 16.
"It's not a bad thing to impose tariffs when there's a strategic need," Cuban said. "What doesn't work are revenge tariffs or across-the-board tariffs. Those are a disaster because they affect every product."
"The idea of taxing everything and anything specifically because I don't like the people or the country where it's originating is insane."
Mark Cuban has teased a presidential run for several years now but it seems like we'll have to wait more to see if that comes to fruition.