Former NBA players are voicing frustration over how their earnings stacked up against today’s skyrocketing salaries, and Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner concedes that younger athletes of his generation are cashing in at levels players of previous eras never saw — and often without recognizing the foundation laid before them.
Standing up for the OGs
Turner, 29, argues that his NBA forerunners helped build the league into the global powerhouse that now enables newcomers to sign multimillion-dollar deals right out the gate. In his view, earlier eras deserve far more acknowledgment for the league’s growth and the financial landscape current players benefit from.
“Bro, at the end of the day, this sh-t about our bread, right? They paved the way for us, and they are not getting their dividends,” Turner said on the “Ball in the Family Podcast.” “So, basically, a role player now, or maybe even a subsidiary role player is making what the superstars is making back then. So, when old heads watch us, and see a guy averaging 13, 14 points, but they getting the same bread that someone who was averaging 30 back in the day, of course they are going to feel type of way… You got to call it what it is now.”
Turner added, “We also got to show more respect as a younger hoopers to older generation.”
Turner isn’t an “old head” himself, even though he used the term in the conversation. When he refers to a “role player,” he means a team member who specializes in certain offensive or defensive skills that help contribute to winning.
Some of the 30-points-per-game scorers from past eras include Patrick Ewing, who earned about $4 million in the 1989–90 season; Larry Bird, who made about $7 million in 1991–92; Ewing again at around $19 million in 1995–96; and Michael Jordan, who earned about $31 million in 1996–97 and $33 million in 1997–98, according to Statistico.
Comparably, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the 2024–25 scoring champion of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who entered the league in 2018 — averaged 32.7 PPG in 2024–25 while earning $38.3 million, according to Hoops Rumors.
Giannis Antetokounmpo — an NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks who entered the league in 2013 — averaged 30.4 PPG in 2024–25 and made $54.1 million.
Turner entered the NBA as the 11th overall pick in the 2015 draft with the Indiana Pacers before going to the Bucks this season. He signed a four-year, $108.9 million contract in Milwaukee and continues to be part of the league’s evolving financial landscape, one that looks very different from the eras he’s referring to.
While Turner is correct in pinpointing how foundational Ewing, Bird, and Jordan are to players like him, inflation also plays a major role, as does the overall growth of the economy and the soaring value of media rights, merchandising, and global sponsorships.
Today’s NBA operates with far more money than in past decades, which is probably one reason why newer players are paid so much higher.
As Boardroom, a financial and pop culture blog owned by Kevin Durant, notes, when the NBA was known as the BAA, the highest-paid player was Tom King, making $16,500 in 1946–47, partly for on-court play and front-office duties — which, adjusted for inflation, is about $274,000 in 2025 dollars.
