Stephen Curry’s Staggering $203 Million Earnings Eclipse LeBron James, Kevin Durant & Other NBA Stars

In May, Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes still had LeBron James as the NBA’s top earner at $137.8 million, with Stephen Curry behind him at $124.7 million. Five months later, Forbes’ new NBA ranking has flipped that order in a big way.

Forbes' list of the highest-paid NBA players projects Curry to earn $203.6 million over the coming year. That makes him the first active NBA player to top $200 million, and it puts him on top of Forbes’ NBA ranking for the second straight year. Kevin Durant ($104.9 million), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($103.5 million), LeBron ($93.9 million) and Anthony Edwards ($87.9 million) round out the top five.

Forbes built the list from 2026-27 salaries on contracts signed by Oct. 19, 2026.

Most of Curry's money comes from outside the arena. On top of his $62.6 million Warriors salary, the first NBA salary above $60 million, he’s projected to earn $141 million from endorsements and other business ventures. That beats the NBA record of $100 million in off-court earnings, which he set himself in 2024-25, by $41 million.

His outside ventures pay him $78.4 million more than the Warriors do. Forbes' Brett Knight credited his new shoe deal with Li-Ning after Curry ended his long-term partnership with Under Armour last year.

The gap to the rest of the league is huge. He’s projected to make $109.7 million more than LeBron and nearly twice as much as Durant. Curry’s total is almost as much as Durant and Antetokounmpo’s combined $208.4 million.

The league's ten highest-paid players are expected to bring in $958 million this season before taxes and agent fees, a 6% increase from last year's record $902 million.

Durant is the closest rival, but he is more than $98 million behind. He’s set to earn $43.9 million on the court and $61 million off it, with endorsement deals including CeraVe, Dick’s Sporting Goods and FanDuel. He’s also a cofounder of the media company Boardroom.

Both players crossed $1 billion in career earnings during the 2025-26 season, although Forbes estimates that their net worths fall short of $1 billion after taxes, agent fees, and other expenses.

LeBron's numbers can look confusing at first. This ranking puts him at $93.9 million, while Forbes' May athlete list had him at $137.8 million. But his off-court earnings went up from $85 million to $90 million.

Forbes credits sponsors like Hennessy, Louis Vuitton and Polymarket. Front Office Sports reported the Polymarket deal alone pays him $15 million a year.

The difference is his salary. The May list counted his $52.8 million Lakers salary. After signing with the Philadelphia 76ers in July for the veteran’s minimum, LeBron will make just $3.9 million on the court this season. That’s the lowest salary of his career, even less than the $4 million he made as a rookie.

Age is also a factor in the ranking. The four players aged 37 or older on the list take $473.2 million, almost half of the top-10 total, and Edwards is the youngest at 25.

Curry's money is also not guaranteed to grow in the same way. His salary is set to dip below $60 million next season after he signed a two-year, $116 million extension in September, $20.7 million less than the maximum available to him.

Curry's lead comes from combining a league-high salary with an off-court haul that no other NBA player has matched. The $203.6 million figure is a projection for 2026-27 and not a payment that has been made, but it is the first time any active player has been projected above $200 million.

Whether anyone can close that gap depends on the next round of endorsement deals as much as the next contract.