10 Highest Paid Basketball Players in 2010

Basketball is one of the most watched sports in the world. Be it pre-season games or the Playoffs, each team on the National Basketball Team has followers from all corners of the Earth rooting them on at every game.

With the 2009-2010 almost coming to an end with the Playoffs, it is always good to check who among the well-known NBA players received the highest salary – whether deserving or not.

10 – Michael Redd [$17,040,000] Michael Wesley Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks is currently the highest paid player in the Bucks’ roster. Redd signed a $91 million contract with the Bucks during the 2004-2005 NBA season that would last for 6 seasons.

9 – Rashard Lewis [$18,876,000] Rashard Lewis of Orlando Magic is currently the highest paid player in the team’s roster. While he still has 4 more seasons to go in his 6 year contract, his current performance has made fans wonder if he is still worth his pay.

8 – Ray Allen [$19,766,860] Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics is one of the three Celtics players who have the highest pay per season. Although Allen is past his prime, his performance has improved over the past season, even putting the Celtics back among the top NBA teams of the season.

7 – Paul Pierce [$19,795,712] Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics is the highest paid Celtics player in their roster. He was the MVP during the 2008 NBA Finals when the Celtics once again won the Championship, which was their first since 1986.

6 – Dirk Nowitzki [$19,795,714] Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is not only the highest paid player in the Mavericks’ roster, but he is also the highest paid non-American player of the season.

5 – Shaquille O’Neal [$20,000,000] Shaquille O’Neal of the Cleveland Cavaliers is the highest paid player in the Cavs’ roster, perhaps mainly because he has four NBA titles to his name, and is deemed as the possible key to the Cavs’ first ever Championship ring.

4 – Tim Duncan [$22,183,218] Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs currently holds the highest pay in the team’s roster, and is known as one of the integral players of the team.

3 – Jermaine O’Neal [$22,995,000] Jermaine O’Neal of the Miami Heat is the team’s highest paid player, although he has not scored the most over recent seasons.

2 – Kobe Bryant [$23,034,375] Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is one of the well known players in the world, and has been known to be a huge key in the Lakers’ success.

1 – Tracy McGrady [$23,329,561] Tracy McGrady currently of the New York Knicks [previously from the Houston Rockets before being traded in February 2010] is the highest player in the entire NBA. However, many have spoken that ‘T-Mac’ may be the biggest wasted potential as well, based on his recent performance.