{"id":1395302,"date":"2021-08-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1395302"},"modified":"2021-08-07T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T13:00:02","slug":"michael-jordan-remains-king-bulls-with-payday-1997-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/michael-jordan-remains-king-bulls-with-payday-1997-98\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost 25 Years Later, Michael Jordan Remains the King of the Bulls With His $33.1 Million Payday in 1997-98"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/michael-jordan\/\">Michael Jordan<\/a> led the Chicago Bulls to each of the franchise\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordan-knew-separated-bulls-other-contenders-nba\/\">six NBA championships<\/a>. And almost 25 years after <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordan-reportedly-regrets-leaving-luc-longley-out-of-the-last-dance\/\">his last dance in Chicago<\/a>, he retains a surprising title. Jordan will eventually fall off this throne. But the fact he\u2019s still perched upon it is remarkable enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The business of <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordan-once-said-4-modern-nba-players-capable-of-cutting-it-in-his-era\/\">basketball no longer resembles<\/a> the atmosphere of Jordan\u2019s era in Chicago. Dramatic revenue increases drove the salary cap more than four times higher than in Jordan\u2019s final season with the Bulls. But that doesn\u2019t matter for Jordan, who was the highest-paid player in the NBA for two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-michael-jordan-s-career-nba-earnings-are-shockingly-small\">Michael Jordan\u2019s career NBA earnings are shockingly small<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Michael Jordan Made His $2.1 Billion Fortune | Forbes\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_NBGn8j0jrI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Salary figures for Michael Jordan\u2019s career only go back to the 1990\u201391 season, but over the last 10 seasons of his career with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, he earned $86.76 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By comparison, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/steph-curry-made-as-much-money-in-5-games-as-charles-barkley-did-in-his-entire-career\/\">Stephen Curry\u2019s checks<\/a> over the next two seasons will total $93.85 million; his $45.78 salary for next season is the largest in the NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More remarkable about Jordan\u2019s earnings is this tidbit: Almost three-quarters of his career salary came in just two seasons. He was the highest-paid player in the NBA in 1996\u201397 and 1997\u201398. Over the other eight seasons in which data exists, he <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/the-list-of-players-who-made-more-money-than-michael-jordan-when-the-chicago-bulls-went-72-10-is-insane\/\">averaged less than $3 million<\/a> a season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, it was a different era. But it\u2019s not like we\u2019re talking about the black-and-white television era when players had offseason jobs because basketball didn\u2019t pay enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jordan-s-1997-98-salary-is-still-the-biggest-in-chicago-bulls-history\">Jordan\u2019s 1997\u201398 salary is still the biggest in Chicago Bulls\u2019 history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MJ&#039;s HIGHLIGHTS From 1997-98 Season | The Jordan Vault\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vRf6WqCL-rY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1996\u201397, Michael Jordan\u2019s salary skyrocketed from $3.85 million to $30.14 million. In 1997-98, it jumped another $3 million to $33.14 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A free agent after the 1995\u201396 season, Jordan signed a one-year deal that was more than the NBA salary cap of $24.3 million. In 1997\u201398, another one-year contract again outpaced the cap of $26.9 million. This was obviously before the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/reinventing-the-nba-time-to-abolish-guaranteed-and-maximum-contracts\/\">era of maximum salaries<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a chance Jordan\u2019s place atop Chicago\u2019s all-time list of big paydays was in jeopardy. All-Star Zach LaVine said he wanted \u201chis respect.&#8221; LaVine is extension-eligible this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final year of a four-year, $105 million extension (the largest he can get this offseason) is $33.7 million. With an All-NBA berth in 2021\u201322, LaVine enters a whole new tax bracket. Five years and more than $235 million is a nice bracket. Even without the All-NBA distinction, he\u2019s in line for more than $200 million on a max deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bulls have spent freely, and almost all of it has been on the backcourt. Between DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso, Chicago has committed $207 million, per Spotrac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At some point, a member of the Bulls will pass Jordan as the highest-paid player in franchise history for a single season. But not yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-michael-jordan-s-equalized-payday-in-1997-98-tops-the-charts-today\">Michael Jordan\u2019s equalized payday in 1997\u201398 tops the charts today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg?w=1024&#038;h=683&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Michael Jordan's salary in 1997-98 remains the highest single-season payday in the history of the Chicago Bulls.\" class=\"wp-image-1395305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg?w=300&amp;h=200 300w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg?w=768&amp;h=512 768w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=683 1024w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jordan.jpg?w=90&amp;h=60 90w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption>Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan drives past Orlando Magic forward Charles Outlaw for two points during the first period of the game at the Arena in Orlando on March 25, 1998. Jordan's $33.14 million salary that season remains the largest in Bulls history. | TONY RANZE\/AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The $33.14 million Michael Jordan earned in 1997\u201398 goes up by more than two-thirds to nearly $55.72 million when adjusting for inflation. That is almost $10 million more than Curry\u2019s salary for 2021\u201322.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, the $85 million each the Chicago Bulls for Ball and DeRozan <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/lonzo-ball-will-make-more-money-bulls-four-years-michael-jordan-did-six-nba-title-winning-seasons-chicago-nearly-entire-career\/\">is nearly as much in four<\/a> and three years, respectively, as Jordan made over the last 10 seasons of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heck, at $37 million, Caruso seems like a dollar-store pickup. But that <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/alex-caruso-will-make-more-money-four-years-bulls-than-scottie-pippen-made-dozen-years-chicago\/\">total will be more<\/a> than Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen pulled in over 12 years in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nature of sports and athletes drives this never-ending surge in salaries. The public nature of salary information, coupled with an athlete\u2019s innate competitive drive, makes that dollar figure a de facto ranking system. Think of it this way. It bothers you if you are making $5 million, and Random Guy makes $8 million, but you are clearly better than Guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Jordan hit huge paydays just twice in his career. But those are still the biggest paydays in team history. It does seem to explain why the Chicago Bulls have struggled to be more than average since the days of Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Salary information courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HoopsHype<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotrac<\/a>. Inflation data courtesy of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/data\/inflation_calculator.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/chicago-bulls-have-not-boasted-this-level-star-talent-since-michael-jordan-scottie-pippen-dennis-rodman\/\">The Chicago Bulls Have Not Boasted This Level of Star Talent Since the Days of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With NBA maximum salaries for 2021-22 exceeding $45 million, it is shocking to realize that Michael Jordan's 1997-98 salary is still the biggest in Chicago Bulls history. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":1395305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4815,4835],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - 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Jordan's $33.14 million salary that season remains the largest in Bulls history. | TONY RANZE\/AFP via Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/michael-jordan-remains-king-bulls-with-payday-1997-98\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Almost 25 Years Later, Michael Jordan Remains the King of the Bulls With His $33.1 Million Payday in 1997-98"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/","name":"Sports7","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/ee47ea0b4ff959cd6a683f377450ccc6","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/philwatson\/","name":"Phil Watson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e879c1fb95491fd97c396cdfb7b176c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e879c1fb95491fd97c396cdfb7b176c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Phil Watson"},"description":"Phil Watson joined Sports7 in 2021, bringing 30 years of sportswriting experience along with him. 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