There’s no business like the sports business, an industry featuring astronomical player salaries at the upper and lower ends. Landing long term employment in either the National Hockey League or the National Basketball Association results in riches that go beyond the imagination.
While NBA salaries dwarf those in the NHL, both leagues reward their top performing superstars. But the teams with the most stars don’t always win. Similarly, the highest payrolls never assure a championship. Crafting the right roster isn’t simply about doling out the most money.
Hockey’s Toronto Maple Leafs are a classic example. Four of the league’s top paid 12 players wear the blue and white, including Auston Matthews, the league’s highest paid athlete at $13.2 million USD. Also among the Top 12 are William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
No other team has more than one player in that group at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have none.
Despite the high end financial commitments to the “core four,” the Leafs have only the seventh highest payroll in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche are first at $125.3M according to Directv.com. But when it comes to the league’s convoluted salary cap structure, Toronto is second to Washington. Puckpedia.com estimates Toronto’s cap hit at $93.2M. This means the Maple Leafs’ movement in contracts for secondary players is less flexible, limiting their prospects of postseason success.
Brendan Shanahan took over as president in 2015. The team has won only one playoff series since.
On the other hand, the Panthers have the 14th highest payroll in the league according to Directv, pretty much middle ground in a league of 32 teams. Their top paid player is Matthew Tkachuk, who’s salary ranks 21st in the NHL.
According to Gaimday.com the average NHL player salary was nearly $3.5 million USD last season. Besides Matthews, the top paid players include Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. It would be hard to argue these aren’t the three best hockey players in the world.
The top basketball players are likewise rewarded for performance on the court. The NBA’s top paid player Steph Curry has won four league titles, most recently in 2022. The Golden State Warrior is a household name internationally and will earn nearly $56 million USD this season according to HoopsHype. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid, winners of the past four Most Valuable Player awards tie for 2nd in salary. Only one player – Jaylen Brown – from the current champion Boston Celtics ranks in the Top 6. His more well-known teammate Jayson Tatum ranks 39th, but will move up the charts in the ’25-26 season when his contract extension kicks in.
Two Canadian Olympians will earn more than Tatum this year. Kitchener, Ontario’s Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, NBA champions in 2023, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are both in the $35 million dollar club. Murray signed an extension this off-season and his salary will balloon to nearly $59 million for the ’27-28 season.
The 26-year-old SGA will be a free agent after the conclusion of the season in 2027. Considering he was MVP runner-up to Jokic last year, negotiations for his next contract will likely result in the biggest contract in NBA history. It’s possible he will be the first North American athlete to get paid $75 million in one year.
SI.com reports that for the 2024-25 season, “the median NBA salary is $6,696,429, according to Basketball Reference. That is easily the largest median salary in the four major professional sports leagues.” Of course, at 15 players, NBA rosters have less athletes than the NHL, Major League Baseball or the National Football League. Still, this average salary makes basketball players the envy of all professional athletes in Canada and the U.S.
HoopsHype states that the Phoenix Suns have the highest payroll heading into this season. With stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal comprising the bulk of the payroll, the Suns will pay out $232,811,962 to players. But the team has only played in the NBA Finals once in the past 31 years, in 2021. The defending champ Celtics are 3rd in team payroll, unlike their counterpart champion Florida in the NHL.
The Toronto Raptors are 23rd in the 30-team league at $170 million USD. Potentially problematic for a Toronto team that has not won a playoff round in four years is that much of that money is tied up through the next three seasons. Only nine more teams have as much money committed through the ’26-27 season, five of which (Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New York and Denver) are considered championship hopefuls this year. Thanks to a massive league-wide media rights deal coming in a year, not to mention the Raptors’ wealthy owners and unstoppable business model, paying players will never be a problem. But guaranteed contracts will limit flexibility for a franchise that hasn’t always been the most attractive destination for top free agent players.
NBA season tips off on October 22, the NHL is well underway. There is a wide disparity in revenue generated between the leagues and thus, in player salaries. But no matter how you slice it, everyone on the ice or the court is living the dream.
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