{"id":1574125,"date":"2023-07-03T15:15:52","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T19:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1574125"},"modified":"2023-07-03T15:15:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T19:15:53","slug":"where-would-michael-jordan-highest-single-season-salary-rank-todays-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/where-would-michael-jordan-highest-single-season-salary-rank-todays-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Would Michael Jordan's Highest Single-Season Salary Rank in Today's NBA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It's no secret that Michael Jordan<\/a> is one of the wealthiest athletes of all time. But it's also well-known that the vast<\/em> majority of the billions of dollars he's made over the last 40 years didn't come from the Chicago Bulls<\/a> or the Washington Wizards<\/a> during his playing days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may surprise some to know that during his 15-year NBA<\/a> career, Jordan made less than $100 million in on-court earnings — $93,877,500 to be exact. And despite being the best player of his era — well, at least during his days in the Windy City — MJ often wasn't the highest-paid player in the league. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, up until his final two seasons with the Bulls, Jordan never made more than $4 million. And that was only twice. And one of those occasions was the campaign he took off following Chicago's first three-peat to pursue a career in baseball<\/a>. Smartly, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf continued to pay his full salary with the hope MJ would return to basketball, which he did in 1995. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his first full season back in 1995-96, the year during which the Bulls went 72-10 and won a fourth title in six years, Jordan earned just $3.85 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the two seasons that followed, however, things were much different. During the 1996-97 campaign, Michael Jordan not only became the first player in NBA history to make $20 million in a single season but also the first to make $30 million, raking in $30.14 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And during the Bulls' famed “Last Dance” run in 1997-98, Jordan earned the highest single-season salary of his career, earning $33.14 million. In a distant second that year was MJ's longtime rival Patrick Ewing, who collected $20.5 million from the New York Knicks<\/a>. In third, surprisingly, was Jordan's former teammate Horace Grant<\/a>, who pocketed more than $14.2 million from the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man, how times have changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, it was obviously quite rare for an NBA player to earn $20 million for a single season's work. Nowadays, however, it's quite common. At the time of this writing, 74 players are set to earn at least $20 million in base salary for the 2023-24 NBA season. And 106 will make at least $15 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that got us thinking. Where would Michael Jordan's highest single-season salary rank in today's NBA?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Jordan's highest single-season salary wouldn't even crack the top 35 in today's NBA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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