Kyle Terrada-USA TODAY Sports
As part of the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Designated Veterans Extension Provision went into effect, allowing players who meet certain criteria to earn an even larger portion of the salary cap, and a rookie player’s first year receiving up to 35% of the salary cap. You can now earn percentages. contract. This rule applies as long as the player has seven to nine years of experience. and One of them was named All-NBA in the most recent season. or Whether you were named NBA MVP in two of the last three seasons or any of the last three seasons, or Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season or two of the last three seasons.
To be clear, a player must meet only one of these three honors-related criteria to be eligible for these new supermax contracts.
The first player to sign such a contract was steph curryThat means, as we will see, he has set many salary-related milestones. The Designated Veteran extension made Curry the first player to earn $34 million, $37 million, $40 million, $43 million, $45 million, $48 million, $51 million and $55 million in a single season. .
Curry signed this monumental contract in the summer of ’17. At the time, it was the largest contract in league history, worth a total of $201.2 million over five years. (That said, given the rising salary cap, signing Curry might look like a big money swap in 10 years, but we digress.)
In the 2017-18 season, the first year of Curry’s contract, Curry reaped the benefits of his contract, finishing the season as an All-Star and third-team All-NBA player and winning his third career championship.
If you’re a Warrior, you can’t ask for more than that.
Salary adjusted for inflation: $43,548,936
