<P> The highest - paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty - million - dollar range . In this twelve - year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003--04 season . Garnett has been the highest - paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons . Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season . During the 1997--98 season, Jordan earned $33,140,000, which still stands as the most any NBA player has earned on a 1 year contract, Jordan also holds the record for the second largest 1 year contract at $30,140,000 in the 1996 - 97 season . Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013--14 season began . LeBron James became the third in the 2016--17 season . Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 - Million per year when he signed a record 5 - year contract worth $201 - Million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017 - 18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021 - 22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966 . </P> <P> Beginning in the 1984--85 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced . The NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season . However, the NBA uses a "soft" salary cap, which means that significant "salary exceptions" allow NBA teams to exceed their allotted amount in order to sign players . The salary cap is determined during the offseason, but as stated earlier, it is liable to change . </P>

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