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🏀 Got Millions to Sacrifice? Greatest NBA Paycuts of the 21st Century

🏀 Got Millions to Sacrifice? Greatest NBA Paycuts of the 21st Century

Jatin Hasija
October 13, 2025

Welcome to Buckets and Riches — where NBA stars don’t just shoot threes, they stack Gs. From tunnel fits worth mortgages to endorsement empires and crypto hiccups, we break down how basketball’s elite earn it, flex it, and sometimes… brick it. 🏀💸

The latest edition of our newsletter covers:

Shaq Sacrificed $20M For One Ring
LeBron Gave Up $15M To Become a Champion
Nowitzki’s Paycuts Built Dallas Loyalty

💸Petty or Competitive?

Shaquille O’Neal Took a Cut just to One-Up Kobe Bryant

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Shaq did take less money than he was worth when with the Miami Heat, just so he could win a title before his old Lakers foil, Kobe Bryant. This is classic O’Neal, and he has admitted to it, too.

Shaq had made a name for himself for being the most dominating force across the league, and his contracts reflected this dominance. Most famously, in 1996, Jerry West lured him away from the Magic to the Lakers with more zeros at the end of his deal than he’d ever seen before.

“I said I’m looking for $150 [million]. But I know I wasn’t going to get $150 [million]. He [West] said, ‘I can’t get you $150 [million], but I can get you this.’ I opened that thing up and said one, two, zero, zero… $120 [million],” Shaq recalled once.

Fast-forward to his time under Pat Riley, specifically, a year into his stint in Miami, Shaq felt he could be more forgiving in terms of signing a friendly contract. At the time, the Heat had just lost in seven to the Pistons in the 2005 ECF. They were primed for slight retooling to get back to that stage, if not further.

But for that to happen, someone had to sacrifice their paycheck. In came ‘Superman’ to save the day. Recently, Shaq revealed he took less for a couple of reasons.

“I can give you the whole 120 [million] and we can have nobody. Or I can give you 100 [million], get UD [Udonis Haslem] some more money, I can bring in [James] Posey, I can bring in GP [Gary Payton], and I can bring in all them guys,” Shaq recalled Riley telling him during the 2005 offseason.

O’Neal accepted. And Riley kept his word. He used the $20 million saved to sign integral pieces to the Heat’s championship puzzle. Antoine Walker, Payton, and Jason Williams all made their way to South Beach.

Shaq’s desire to improve Miami’s roster had motives beyond just winning another title for himself. He wanted to win one before Kobe.

“I need to win. You know what I’m hearing. I gotta win one before the ol’ boy [Kobe Bryant] gets one,” said the ‘Big Aristotle’ on his mentality at the time.

Well, we can’t knock him for this level of competitiveness. He went on to win his fourth title that very same season after signing for $100 million in August 2005.

Looking back, Shaq has no regrets about losing out on $20 million. “For me, it’s not about money, it’s about maximizing your potential. If you have the ability to do more.”

💸 Moneyball Moments

In 2017, Kevin Durant turned down nearly $10 million to re-sign with the Warriors for $25 million, instead of the $34.6 million max he was eligible for.
The move allowed Golden State to keep Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, both crucial to their second straight title run. Durant later called it a “strategic sacrifice for flexibility.”

💰Rings Bigger Than a Bag

When LeBron James Took a $15 Million Paycut to Win Championships

By 2010, LeBron James, having played for seven years in the NBA without winning a championship, was starting to get desperate. With free agency, he had the perfect opportunity to join a contending team of his choice.

LeBron infamously planned ‘The Decision’, choosing to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. He signed a 6-year $110 million deal, with an option to opt out after four years.

To make that Big 3 a reality, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh all left approximately $15 million on the table. James was the best player in the League at the time, averaging 29.7ppg, 8.6apg, and 7.3rpg while taking home MVP for the 2009-10 season.

"All three of us are ultimately going to take less money because we... feel like we can be great together," James said at the time.

He then played some of the best basketball of his career with the Heat and achieved his ultimate goal, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2012 and 2013. It finally allowed him to silence all doubters.

In 2014, LeBron hit free agency once again, with many expecting him to sign a long-term deal to stay in Miami. But he wasn't willing to take anything less than the max this time around. James, however, chose to leave the Heat, returning to his hometown Cavaliers in a shocking decision.

But 2010 wasn't the only time LeBron took a pay cut to help his team. In 2024, he was willing to take a $12-15 million cut so the Lakers could sign a center, with Jonas Valanciunas a name being floated around. He eventually took a smaller $3 million cut to allow the Lakers to stay under the second cap.

By leaving $15 million on the table with the Heat, LeBron set the tone for pay cuts in the modern NBA. He showed players another way to build championship rosters, and kicked off the 'superteam' era.

🏀 Loyal to a Cause

The King of Paycuts, Mr. Dirk Nowitzki

If there’s one player in the 21^st century who loved putting his team before money, it was Dirk Nowitzki. The number of times he refused to take more than he needed just so his team, the Dallas Mavericks, could afford other players is absurd.

The most publicized cut in salary Dirk willingly took was in 2014. In the 2013-14 season, he was still a top 20 player in the league coming off a year where he averaged 21.7 points on 49.7/39.8/89.9 shooting.

The Mavs had just taken the eventual champs (Spurs 2014) to seven games, giving them the biggest challenge of the Playoffs in the very first round. So, it made sense that they handed Dirk close to a max deal.

Instead, he signed a lowly 3-year, $25 million deal in July 2014. To put into perspective Nowitzki’s loyalty to Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, he was offered max-level money from the Rockets and the Lakers that offseason.

“[Cuban] knows I don’t want to go anywhere and he doesn’t want me to go anywhere,” said Dirk at the time. This came after Dirk had already taken a $16 million pay cut on his previous contract.

Instead of signing for $96 million over 4 years, he took $80 million. That’s two consecutive deals where he put the team’s cap space over his own interests. It was during the $80 million deal that he won his first championship and Finals MVP, a title that is etched in the uppermost echelons of earned titles in NBA history.

Nowitzki did sign a two-year deal worth $50 million after the two contracts were up, but this was immediately followed by him never seeking more than $5 million a year until he retired in 2019. Essentially, he earned less than he was worth for close to a decade.

“At this point in my career, it’s all about competing and winning. It’s not about money,” said Dirk at the time of his late-career paycuts. Is this nobility? Perhaps. More importantly, it’s a perfect showcase of how loyalty is a two-way street.

🏀 Shot Clock Back: NBA Stat of the Year

In 2001, Allen Iverson played a career-high 43.7 minutes per game, the most by any player in the 21st century.
He led the Sixers to the Finals, won league MVP, and averaged 31.1 points that season, all while standing just 6 feet tall and weighing 165 pounds.