EuroLeague salaries: millions for stars, hundreds of thousands for bench players
Unfortunately or fortunately, not all salaries in the EuroLeague, the Old World’s strongest basketball league, are public like in the NBA. Nevertheless, thanks to journalists, we have a pretty good idea of how much the stars of category A earn, how much the guys from the second echelon and how much the bench players do.
Before going to specific examples, it should be noted that the top European clubs have always been generous to their best players. There are plenty of examples of Old World superstars who did not go to the NBA partly for the money, and perhaps the best of them is Serbian legend Dejan Bodiroga.
Why go overseas to most likely sit on a bench, when you will probably get a bigger salary in Europe and fight for the title(s) every season? There is no logic in that!
And it is not set in stone that EuroLeague superstars earn more in the NBA than in their home league. For example, Sasha Vezenkov earned just over six million euros last season with the Sacramento Kings, but in the New World, the axe applies: a player receives about half of the gross salary due to various taxes and fees.
When he returned to Olympiacos this year, Vezenkov signed the most lucrative contract in Europe to date, which will put at least 3.7 million euros in his pocket per season – an amount that can increase by a few hundred thousand with various bonuses. Unlike the amounts reported in the NBA, this is a net salary, and in addition, the cost of living in Europe is much cheaper than in the USA.
Three men cross the magic line
Besides Vezenkov, there are only two men in the at least three million euros club: Istanbul Anadolu Efes leader Shane Larkin (3.4 million) and Real Madrid’s human crane Walter Tavares (3.0).
There are several superstars between two and three million: Nikola Mirotic, Kendrick Nunn, Kevin Punter and others. True, there are also several men in that group who are clearly paid too much.
The best example is Barcelona center Willy Hernangomez. The center, who played in the NBA for seven seasons, earns 2.3 million euros per season in the Catalan giant and is good on offense, but a complete mess on defense.
This season, Hernangomez has played an average of 13 minutes and 25 seconds and brought 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds. The numbers are decent for a debutant, not for a man with one of the highest salaries in the EuroLeague.
There are also players who earn significantly less than they should. There is no getting around T. J. Shorts, who has become one of the best players in the league in his debut for Paris. The statistics of the American with a North Macedonian passport are amazing, considering that the 175 cm tall guard has brought in 19.3 points and 7.9 assists per game.
As for Shorts’ salary, who joined Paris last season, it was reported at the time that he would pocket half a million euros for the season. He then won the EuroCup and was the MVP of both the regular season and the final series. It can be assumed that the agile and skilled Yankee received an additional salary because of this.
How much exactly is a mystery, however. However, it is clear that Shorts did not multiply his salary three or four times and he probably earns something between 750,000 and a million euros.
In addition, one of the best wingers in the EuroLeague has emerged as a man with a salary of 380,000 euros. We are talking about Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Jaylen Hoard, whose rise to prominence has been surprising considering his career so far.
The second echelon can make you a millionaire
Of course, there is no team that consists only of superstars. Alongside the men who earn millions, you also need loyal lieutenants, whose salary may be a few times lower than the stars, but whose playing contribution is much more important.
Let’s look at Maccabi again, where there are quite a few of these men. Jordan Loyd has returned to Monaco by now, but he started the season in the Israeli club and was supposed to earn 1.14 million euros per season.
Jasiel Rivero is Maccabi’s main center, but in the top teams he would be a solid substitute. In some ways, he is similar to Hernangomez, since the Cuban’s strength is also attack. At the same time, Rivero is not nearly as bad in defense as the Spaniard.
On the bench? Here’s a couple of hundred grand for you!
EuroLeague club CEOs complain over and over that there is no money in the Old World game, but… Of course, player salaries are primarily determined by demand, but teams also have to have enough money to get more than five-star players.
Looking at the salaries of bench players, there is nothing wrong with the financial situation of EuroLeague teams. Maccabi winger Rafi Menco has only participated in five games, but he pockets 285,000 euros per season. Of course, he is a local player and this increases his price, but the fact is that Menco is the player with the lowest salary in Maccabi.
Lukas Lekavičius, the coach of Žalgiris Kaunas, has an average of twice the number of playing minutes compared to Menco, but six minutes and 42 seconds still means that the Lithuanian is on the bench. But he has 400,000 reasons why his situation could be even worse.
Of course, there are men in the EuroLeague who earn even less than Menco and Lekavičius. One of them should be Estonian national team player Sander Raieste, whose salary has not been speculated by the press and therefore we will not gossip about it. We can say this much that Raieste’s salary is also in the six figures.
Looking at EuroLeague salaries, it is interesting to note that there is no such chasm between the top and the lower end of the players as in the NBA, where the best players earn just under 70 million euros a year after a few seasons and the “poorest” about three or four million.
Minus taxes, of course.
