Basketball Contracts Worth More Than OBJ’s NFL Record-Breaker

Let’s be clear: Odell Beckham Jr. made a whole hell of a lot money on Monday. 

According to an ESPN report, the New York Giants wide receiver signed a five-year deal with the team worth some $95 million, $65 million of which was guaranteed.

Beckham’s lucrative contract is a record-breaker for NFL wide receivers. But perspective is everything. A lot of money for one person is meh for another.

For instance, using Glassdoor data, it would take the average journalist a cool 1,246 years to make $65 million. In that regard—OK, not really, but kinda-sorta—when compared to players in the NBA, Beckham actually isn’t making all that much.

Dozens of NBA players make more than the contract Beckham just signed to much fanfare. Pro-sports contracts can be confusing—full of clauses, and triggers, and salary-cap-trickery and, in the NFL, guaranteed vs non-guaranteed money—but for simplicity’s sake let’s say OBJ will make about $20 million per year when his new contract kicks in. (NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported  that will be the average salary over the first three years. The average over the life of the contract will likely be closer to $18 million.)

Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants looks on from the sideline during a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on August 17, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. He signed a major contract on Monday. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Using Basketball Reference data, here is every player in the NBA who is expected to make more than $20 million next season. All 45 of them.

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1. Stephen Curry – $37,457,154

2. Chris Paul – $35,654,1503

3. LeBron James – $35,654,150

4. Russell Westbrook – $35,350,000

5. Blake Griffin – $31,873,932

6. Gordon Hayward – $31,214,295

7. Kyle Lowry – $31,000,000

8. Paul George – $30,560,700

9. Mike Conley – $30,521,115

10. James Harden – $30,431,854

11. Kevin Durant – $30,000,000

12. Paul Millsap – $29,730,769

13. Al Horford – $28,928,710

14. Damian Lillard – $27,977,689

15. DeMar DeRozan – $27,739,975

16. Chris Bosh – $26,837,720

17. Jrue Holiday – $26,131,111

18. Otto Porter – $26,011,913

19. CJ McCollum – $25,759,766

20. Carmelo Anthony – $25,599,488

21. Nikola Jokic – $25,467,250

22. Bradley Beal – $25,434,263

23. Anthony Davis – $25,434,263

24. Andre Drummond – $25,434,263

25. Hassan Whiteside – $25,434,263

26. Andrew Wiggins – $25,250,000

27. Joel Embiid – $25,250,000

28. Steven Adams – $24,157,303

29. Giannis Antetokounmpo – $24,157,303

30. Kevin Love – $24,119,025

31. Marc Gasol – $24,119,025

32. Chandler Parsons – $24,107,258

33. Harrison Barnes – $24,107,258

34. Nicolas Batum – $24,000,000

35. Rudy Gobert – $23,491,573

36. DeAndre Jordan – $22,900,000

37. LaMarcus Aldridge – $22,347,015

38. Serge Ibaka – $21,666,667

39. Aaron Gordon – $21,590,909

40. Danilo Gallinari – $21,587,579

41. Victor Oladipo – $21,000,000

42. Jimmy Butler – $20,445,779

43. Ryan Anderson – $20,421,546

44. Kawhi Leonard – $20,099,189

45 – Kyrie Irving – $20,099,188

There are lots of reasons why NBA players make more money. In a nutshell, the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement secured a larger slice of the revenue-pie and basketball rosters are much, much smaller than NFL rosters which means fewer players collect more money. 

Still, don’t feel too bad for Beckham. He seemed pretty happy with his contract. And maybe one day he’ll be able to make Otto Porter-esque money.