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It’s a good time to be in the NBA. With the league’s $76 billion media deal creating a larger pie for NBA teams to share, players can now earn more money than ever before. For example, the 2026-27 season will see Stephen Curry pocket $62,587,158, while Nikola Jokic will earn $59,033,114.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum will also receive identical salaries of $58,456,566 – single-season figures that exceed the career earnings of All-Stars from decades past. But as gaudy as the salaries of today’s stars are, Fred VanVleet asserted that those are pale in comparison to what the team owners make.
VanVleet claims owners are making billions off the athletes
As the recent sale of the Los Angeles Lakers shows, what athletes make is pennies compared to what team owners earn. American businessman Mark Walter and Todd Boehly bought a majority stake in the Lakers in June 2025 for $10 billion. A little over a year later, the team was sold to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner for $12.5 billion, resulting in a cool $2.5 billion profit in such a short span.
“These teams are selling for $10 billion off the backs of athletes,” VanVleet
“Now, the salaries are great, don’t get me wrong, but any top CEO, any top billionaire, whoever got the most money in the world, they not taking no salary, right? They just want the equity of the companies that have the valuation,” the Houston Rockets guard added. “They take a small salary, and there’s certain players that deserve that for sure.”
A player that VanVleet mentioned off the top of his head is Curry, the all-time great who has been the face of the Golden State Warriors and, arguably, the NBA, for the last decade. Back in July 2010, former Warriors owner Chris Cohan sold the team to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber of Mandalay Entertainment for $450 million.
Sixteen years later, the Warriors have become one of the most popular franchises in professional sports history. With four NBA titles and Curry captivating the hearts and minds of fans around the world, the Warriors have been valued at more than $11 billion.
“Steph Curry taking the Warriors from where they was to now, to one of the highest valued. You know, he should have a piece of that,” VanVleet emphasized.
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Related: Stephen Curry breaks down why NBA players are underpaid: “What the league is doing is probably 10x that”
Current CBA bans players from participating in team equity
Curry himself has shared his opinion on the matter, going as far as to say that NBA players are underpaid – a statement that stirred up the sports world.
“That’s a big deal because, you know, it is a partnership with ownership. It’s a partnership with the league, and we’re on the short term of that revenue, right?” he said. “Like, those numbers sound crazy, but what the league is doing, from whatever era you want to compare it to now, is probably, you know, 10x that.”
“So the idea that we can’t participate in equity while we’re playing is a part of why I would say yes, we are underpaid, because you want to be able to participate in that rise,” he added.
VanVleet and Curry have raised solid points. NBA players earn a pretty penny, undeniably more than anybody from other eras. But if people look at the bigger picture, they’re not being given their due, especially when owners can make billions, thanks to the players’ performances year in and year out.
Related: Fred VanVleet doesn’t think Stephen Curry should be above Allen Iverson, let alone Jalen Brunson
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 6:03 AM.