Highest Paid Overseas Basketball Player [Salaries 2023]

Nikola Mirotic earnings of 5.4 Million dollars a year is one of the highest salaries in European basketball. Mirotic plays in the EuroLeague as a power forward.

Through the age of 13, he was passionate about basketball. His early career began by signing a junior contract with Real Madrid in 2005 at the age of 14. He played for Real Madrid after being transferred to the senior team till the end of 2014.

Nikola was drafted into the NBA in 2011 by the Houston Rockets in the first round. But was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and again to the Chicago Bulls on the same draft night.

The 32-year-old player was associated with the Chicago Bulls from 2014 to early 2018. Later on, on 1 February 2018, he got traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for a season.

A three-year, €26 million contract with Barcelona formally brought him into the EuroLeague on July 6, 2019.

Recently he signed a contract to play for the Olimpia Milano of the LBA on 3 August 2023. 

Lance Stephenson seasonally earns $4 million dollars from Leones de Ponce. Stephenson joined the Puerto Rican League on 27 April 2023.

In the NBA draft of 2010, Lance was the 40th pick by the Indiana Pacers where he played for 4 years. As the season was about to end in 2013-2014, he was offered a $44 million dollar contract by the Pacers but was declined and chose to believe that he was worth more.

Later on July 18, 2014, he signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets.

He played for seven NBA clubs before entering Liaoning Flying Leopards in CBA in 2019. In the year 2021, he was selected by the Grand Rapids Gold in the 2021 NBA G League draft.

It is reported that during his 13 years of professional basketball career, he had accumulated a total of 12 million USD as his net worth.

Lance was awarded with McDonald's All-American in 2009 along with Big East Rookie of the Year in 2010. Additionally, he was also rewarded as the Terrific 12 MVP in 2019.

Shane Larkin has been playing with Anadolu Efes since 2018 with a $4 million per season pay. Larkin also received his Turkish citizenship in 2020.

The 31-year-old player was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA draft of 2013 as the 18th overall pick-up. But his draft right got handed to the Dallas Mavericks on draft night.

He played for three NBA clubs for a season each before being traded to Baskonia for 6.3 million dollars in 2016. But he rejected and went to Boston Celtics after a season.

The two-time EuroLeague champion had been rewarded with many MVPs and league trophies. He was the Turkish League championship winner in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Shane has been one of the top EuroLeague players who has led Anadolu Efes into the EuroLeague Final Four in 2019.

Sergio Llull was the NBA draft of 2009 by the Denver Nuggets. Llull earns 2.8 million USD per season as an overseas basketball player salary.

Although his NBA draft was chosen by the Denver Nuggets that right was later purchased by the Houston Rockets for $2.25 million.

The 35-year-old player's debut in basketball began in the 2005-2006 season when he was picked for the Spanish ACB League club Manresa.

Sergio has been playing for Real Madrid since 2007. His contract was extended by Madrid in 2009, later in the season of 2017-2018, and later in 2020-2021 with a six-year contract of 2.7 million euros ($2.8 million) per season.

The 6-foot-3-inch player was named the MVP of the 2012 Spanish King's Cup tournament while playing for Madrid.

Llull has also been awarded three EuroLeague championships in 2015, 2018 and 2023.

Kostas Sloukas is currently playing in the EuroLeague with seasonal pay of $2.8 million. Kostas plays as the point guard/shooting guard for the Panathinaikos.

He went undrafted in the NBA in 2012, so he tried overseas basketball through his agent Panagiotis Kapazoglou.

Kostas's career commenced after he joined Olympiacos in 2008 and made his debut in Greece's top-tier Basket League.

In 2010, Sloukas was able to win the Greek Cup with Olympiacos before being loaned to Aris Thessaloniki for a season. Upon his return to Olympiacos, he signed a 3-year contract extension in 2012.

In 2015, Kostas was offered a net income of 1.7 million salaries in Euro basketball for playing with Fenerbahce Istanbul.

Sloukas has won the EuroLeague championship three times in 2012, 2013, and 2017. Along with that, he also succeeded in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup championship in 2013.

He was the All-EuroLeague First Team winner of 2019 and then moved to Panathinaikos of the EuroLeague in 2023.

Kevin Punter earns $2.6 million per season. Punter played with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2016 NBA Summer League.

He was a student at the University of Tennessee from 2014 to 2016 where he averaged 22.1 points per game and 3.4 rebounds. Kevin was also awarded Second Team All-SEC in 2016.

The 30-year player was undrafted in the NBA selection of 2016. But was signed by Lavrio of the Greek Basket League for 40,000 euros per year.

Punter got transferred between nine clubs in his seven years of professional career. Currently, from 2021 he has joined Partizan of the ABA League and the EuroCup.

His 2022-2023 season ended after a 3-2 series win over Crvena Zvezda in the finals lifting the ABA League championship trophy.

Darius Thompson is a point guard whose salary is 2.3 million dollars per year. Thompson was nominated for the McDonald All-American Game in 2013.

The scholar of Blackman High School was also ranked the number 4 best combo guard in the country by 247Sports.

When he graduated from Western Kentucky in 2017, he applied for the NBA draft but was undrafted.

Later in 2017 after his, overseas basketball tryouts Darius was offered a contract with ZZ Leiden of the Dutch Basketball League and FIBA Europe Cup where he played till 2019.

In 2021, Darius joined Lokomotiv Kuban but had to depart in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Afterward, he signed with Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague with a two-year contract.

Recently he has been playing with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes since 2023 July 7. He is a national player for the Italian National Team.

Willy Hernangomez plays for FC Barcelona with an annual ontract amount of $2.3 million. Hernangomez won the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2017.

After spending two successful seasons with Real Madrid's reserve team, he was temporarily loaned to Cajasol Sevilla in 2013. Nevertheless, he rejoined Real Madrid's reserve team for the 2015-2016 season.

In the NBA draft in 2015, he was drafted in by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 35th overall pick-up. But he was later traded to the New York Knicks on draft night. Willy parted ways with the Kicks in 2018 and joined the Charlotte Hornets.

On 12 July 2023, he was offered a three-year lucrative deal with Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona.

Additionally, he was awarded with NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2017 along with the FIBA EuroBasket MVP in 2022.