Gary Payton, a Hall of Fame point guard, recently shared his thoughts on the soaring salaries of today’s NBA players, especially in comparison to his own career earnings. Payton, who spent the majority of his career with the Seattle SuperSonics, pointed out the generational difference in paychecks, particularly when it comes to his son, Gary Payton II, who plays for the Golden State Warriors.
“I hate it sometimes because I wish I could just say, ‘Hey, mom, why did you have me so early?’ Because I look at my son now and the amount of money he’s making,” Payton said in a May interview with King 5 Seattle. “But you know, [it’s] his craft.”
Who’s Making More?
Gary Payton II currently plays for the Golden State Warriors after being traded to them by the Portland Trail Blazers in February 2023.
According to the elder Payton, in his era, only true superstars would secure big contracts, often spanning six or seven years. Now, he says, players can sign shorter deals, like three years, and opt out after two to negotiate even larger extensions worth millions more.
Back in the 1990s, the NBA’s financial landscape was vastly different. “In my day, you would have to be a really superstar, a superstar,” Payton said. “We were signing contracts for six and seven years. … Nowadays, you go and get a three-year deal, opt out in two, to get 80, 100, and something more million for two more years. But it is what it is. It’s their era, you know, it’s their era.”
Payton’s first contract was a six-year, $13.5 million deal with the Seattle SuperSonics, followed by a then-massive seven-year, $80 million deal signed in 1996.
The average annual salary for NBA players during the 2024-25 season is projected to reach $11,910,649, according to Basketball Reference. This marks a significant increase from the $9.7 million average salary in the 2023-24 season.
So far, Payton’s son has made $30,189,090 in his eight-year career. In his 17-year career Payton earned, $104,678,207. Looking at the numbers, and not taking into consideration future bonuses and salary bumps, Payton II would only rake in $64,151,816 in 17 years.
Payton obviously hasn’t crunched the salary numbers. As he noted, “We can’t be mad about the situation; the economy goes up, everything goes up, and these kids just gotta understand, you know, you gotta be grateful for what has happened.”