The 2024-25 season promises to be an exciting one in the EuroLeague, not only because of the action on the field, but also because of the salaries of the competition’s stars, which continue to rise.
The organizer is set to receive an equity fund and a new version of the “luxury tax” as part of Financial Fair Play, which will affect teams’ budgets.
However, despite the restrictions, the official salary cap remains non-existent. Clubs can continue to pay their players significant amounts, albeit with some financial restrictions.
At the top of the list of highest paid athletes is Olympiakos’ Sasha Vezenkov, with a contract worth 4.1 million dollars net. Second place is occupied by Shane Larkin (Anatolu Efes) with 3.75 million, followed by Mike James (Monaco) with 3 million.
Despite clubs’ intention, in the years following the pandemic, to set the upper salary limit at €2 million per year, however, salaries in the Euroleague continue to increase exponentially.
The impact of the NBA is clear, with the global market also affecting contracts in European basketball.
To make this year’s top 10 salary list, a player would need to earn at least $2.2 million net, which is a huge increase from previous years.
The informal ranking of the top ten players with the highest net salaries in the EuroLeague for 2024-25, according to Eurohoops, is as follows:
- Sasha Vezenkov (Olympian): $4.1 million
- Shane Larkin (Anatolou Efes): 3.75 cm.
- Mike James (Monaco): 3 cm.
- Kostas Sloukas (Panathinaikos): 2.8 cm.
- Walter Tavares (Real Madrid): 2.7cm.
- Kevin Pander (Barcelona): 2.6 cm.
- Kendrick Nunn (Panathinaikos): 2.5 cm.
- Nikola Mirotic (Armani Milano): 2.5 cm.
- Darius Thompson (Anatolu Efes): 2.3 cm.
- Evan Fournier (Olympian): 2.2 cm.
Nigel Hayes-Davies (Fenerbahçe), Willy Hernangomet (Barcelona) and Vincent Poirier (Anatolu Efes) also receive the same net salary as the new Olympiakos star.
The presence of great talent and increasingly high salaries demonstrate that the EuroLeague is consolidating its position among the most prestigious competitions in world basketball and, despite the restrictions imposed by the new financial rules, the European market appears ready to continue this exponential growth .
naftemporiki.gr