Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
HoopsHype presents the first NBA players to reach every single-season major salary milestone, from $100,000 to to $55 million.
Let’s take a journey through NBA history to find out the first players who reached major salary milestones.
Starting in the 1965-66 season, we’ll explore the first NBA player to earn $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, $1 million, and so on, up to the most recent milestone of $55 million in 2024-25.
You’re about to see a lot of legends on this list, though there are a couple of very fun blast-from-the-past surprises.
There have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures and most of them involve Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and Curry.
We’re in the golden era of sports cards, with some being sold for millions of dollars. Though not as hot a property as some baseball cards, there’s a big market for the basketball stuff too. Per our research, there have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures.
Most of them involve Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. One featuring the Warriors superstar actually tops the list of the most expensive sales ever.
The 2003-04 Upper Deck LeBron James Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph is the card sold most times in our list with 12. Other players that collectors are investing in are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The trading card industry is booming and still growing, and we’re sure there will be new record sales soon.
For now, this is the all-time ranking:
Obama did not realize it at first but now finds it hilarious.
Earlier this year, President Barack Obama met with Team USA basketball and had a hilarious interaction with the players and coaching staff.
Obama had a familiarity with several players and coaches including Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Erik Spoelstra, and Steve Kerr. That much was quite obvious when he greeted each of them for a handshake.
But the former POTUS was not as familiar with Team USA assistant coach Mark Few, who is also the head coach of Gonzaga Men’s Basketball. During a recent interview with Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was on Team USA this summer, Obama said he had never met Few.
Tyrese had to ask Obama about doing the Key & Peele handshake sketch IRL w/ Team USA basketball 🤣💀 pic.twitter.com/bu7mapUYwP
— TheYoungManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) October 23, 2024
So when it came time to shake his hand, he wasn’t sure what greeting to go with. In the conversation, he admitted that it ended up looking a lot like an iconic sketch from Key & Peele at a meet and greet:
“I gotta say, that was funny. But here’s what happened. Here’s what happened. So I’m going down the row, right? A lot of those guys, I knew. And then right before I got to Coach Few, it’s Steph, it’s LeBron. I’ve been knowing those guys forever. I had dinner with them, their families. So then Coach Few, I’d never met. And he put out his hand and I’m like, alright. Yeah. I don’t know. Is he going to be comfortable if I pull him into a bro hug? I don’t know. So I just shook his hand. Kerr was right afterward. And Steve I knew. But the way it played out, I will say, it looked just like that Key & Peele skit.”
Obama revealed that he did not know that people would make the comparison because it was not a “conscious” decision.
You can watch the version from his presidency and the version from the Olympics:
Obama did the Key and Peele sketch in real life pic.twitter.com/oXxlJjuCRI
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) July 11, 2024
When he watched it side-by-side, he felt like people “caught” him.
The former president added that the two comedians did plenty of funny sketches surrounding his presidency and believes that Jordan Peele does a fantastic impression of him.
Meanwhile, this was a great job by Haliburton to ask the question.
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How to buy the new Curry 12 basketball shoes:
Just in time for the best seasons of the year, basketball star Stephen Curry has released the newest pair of sneakers in his line of basketball shoes with Under Armour.
The footwear is the 12th edition of Curry’s sneakers and that is reflected in the name, the “Curry 12.”
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The shoes is designed with outer space and “Gravity” in mind, which is the name of the design and color scheme of the sneakers. The look has a light gray upper portion with the sides sporting a green and black look.
While newly released worldwide, the kicks are the same ones that Curry wore during his Olympic gold medal run with Team U.S.A.
The release comes just in time for the start of the 2024-25 NBA season. Curry, a four-time NBA champion, will embark on his 16th season.
And don’t forget, the drop comes just in time for the holiday season, too. It’s the perfect gift to grab for the Curry fan in your life.
The “Curry 12” sneaker lists at $140 and you can grab yours right now:
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Former NBA player Brandon Jennings recently returned to his hometown to host a community event at Rowley Park in Gardena, California. The gathering was organized by his brand TUFF CROWD in collaboration with Curry Brand, Stephen Curry’s Under Armour …
Former NBA player Brandon Jennings recently returned to his hometown to host a community event at Rowley Park in Gardena, California. The gathering was organized by his brand TUFF CROWD in collaboration with Curry Brand, Stephen Curry‘s Under Armour footwear and apparel line.
Before the event kicked off, Jennings sat down with HoopsHype to discuss his career, playing at MSG, his Achilles injury, Josh Hart‘s recent comments, and more.
The Golden State Warriors are primed for a stronger season, with hopes resting on a Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Stephen Curry continuing his MVP-level play, and key contributions from their younger players. After parting ways with Klay Thompson …
The Golden State Warriors are primed for a stronger season, with hopes resting on a Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Stephen Curry continuing his MVP-level play, and key contributions from their younger players. After parting ways with Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade deal that sent him to Dallas, the Warriors gained valuable financial flexibility and retooled their roster. They brought in reinforcements like Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and De’Anthony Melton, adding much-needed shooting depth and bench support – crucial to their offensive system.
The development of young talents like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis will be key, as the Warriors aim for more consistent contributions from their bench. With Curry leading the way, the Warriors have the potential to bypass the play-in tournament entirely and secure a top-six spot in the West in a best-case scenario.
Former NBA star Joakim Noah is uniquely positioned to discuss the connections between tennis and basketball.
Former NBA star Joakim Noah is uniquely positioned to discuss the connections between tennis and basketball.
Noah, a two-time collegiate men’s basketball national champion at the University of Florida, grew up in New York. His father, Yannick Noah, was a widely-known tennis star in France and reached career-high singles ranking of No. 3 in the world.
YANNICK NOAH: Watch Joakim Noah’s dad ignore a sideline interview to give his son a standing ovation
After his March Madness titles, Noah enjoyed a long and successful career as a professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and even won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2014.
Although he did not follow in his father’s footsteps to play tennis, he still follows the sport and recently attended the US Open in his hometown of New York City.
The former basketball star, who is celebrated for his intensity and being unafraid to clash with LeBron James, caught up with For The Win from the Emirates Suite during their NBA night at the 2024 US Open.
He discussed his thoughts on tennis star Frances Tiafoe (who wore Noah’s jersey before a match earlier this year), the recent rise of basketball in France (where he represented the national team), and more.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Joakim Noah: Yeah! He has an inner city energy about him and it resonates a lot with the hoopers. A lot of the tennis players don’t know too much about basketball and he’s definitely a bridge. He has a great personality. I love the way he carries himself out there and he is somebody that a lot of the hoopers can relate to.
Joakim Noah: My father was a larger-than-life personality in France. It made me shy away from the game because of people’s expectation toward me when it came to tennis. I felt really safe playing basketball. I loved the team aspect. I loved being able to have friends and be able to do my own thing.
Joakim Noah: Being retired from the game, I have more time and perspective to travel. I also grew up in the French grassroots system. I understand the difference between the AAU circuit out here in America compared to over there. The reality is that the competition is getting tighter. There is not this dominance that USA once had. I really believe that the reason why, especially in watching [the men’s Olympics gold medal] game, is that the grassroots system is completely different over there. That is the reason you are seeing all of these young talents coming in through the draft. You are seeing Wemby, who is obviously the next face of the league. But they are also doing something on a day-to-day basis: Professional teams have an 18-and-under and a 16-and-under [program]. Even at 12 years old on a Saturday, you can go see the pro team play or the 14 year olds play in the same gym right after your game. The fact you can see what that next level looks like and feels like is great for the younger players.
Joakim Noah: I think it was an unbelievable game. Obviously, watching Stephen Curry and LeBron James play on the same court after all those great moments they gave us was really powerful. Especially the way that Steph ended the game, you just saw greatness in full display. I felt like France really played their hearts out and they had a team that French people can be really proud of. When you’re playing in big games like that, all it does is inspire the next generation and I think basketball is in a really good place.
Joakim Noah: The NBA In-Season Tournament is something that is really needed for the NBA because the basketball calendar is a marathon. So being able to incentivise the guys to play hard in November and play for the guys who maybe don’t make as much money as the star players just makes everybody play harder. I really appreciate the Emirates NBA Cup because it brings the competition that we all love watching.
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Which version of The Match was your favorite?
It’s been nearly six years since the first edition of The Match, the made-for-TV series of silly season golf events featuring everyone from PGA Tour legends to current NFL and NBA all-stars.
In that time, golf fans have been treated to seven different matches, most recently the first to be played using a mixed-team format.
Even though the first edition of The Match – Woods vs. Phil Mickelson in November 2018 in Las Vegas – didn’t quite live up to the hype, it proved there was a market for the competition. Over the years the matches have grown into charitable causes benefitting COVID-19 relief and HBCU’s while still providing golf fans a unique product outside of 72-hole stroke-play tournaments.
The dream was fun while it lasted.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’re having a great day and are ready for the three day weekend ahead of you.
The Golden State Warriors got their work done a bit early this week, didn’t they?
Stephen Curry has reportedly signed a one-year, $62.6 million extension with the team for the 2026-27 season. He’ll join the NBA’s $500 million club and remain a Warrior through the remainder of his deal unless he asks out.
That’s great news for Warriors fans out there who thought Curry might dash for greener grass after a couple of underwhelming seasons in a row for the Warriors. While that’s still not completely outside the realm of possibility, it’s become a lot less likely now.
What is completely cooked with this extension, though, are hopes that he and LeBron James would ever play together.
Fans have almost always fantasized about the two defining players of this era of hoops playing together. Steph at point with LeBron on the wing? That’d be a nightmare, even in their twilight years. Curry is still the game’s best shooter and James knows how to manipulate defenses better than almost anyone in NBA history.
Their Olympic stint together this summer only added fuel to the fire for those thoughts. And when Steph removed “Warriors guard” from his Instagram bio? Whew, boy. Things were getting crazy.
But now, Curry is locked in. He could theoretically be traded for, sure. But it’d take half the Lakers’ roster to get a deal done without a third team while also keeping Anthony Davis and James on the roster. Plus, they don’t have the draft capital or young prospects the Warriors would be looking for in return. Much of the same could be said on the Warriors end of things if, say, James were to request a trade.
At this point, we know that’s not happening. Neither of these guys are going anywhere. The teams they’re with now are the teams they’re going to be finishing their careers with. You never say never — this is the NBA. You never know.
But if you were holding out any hope for a union between these two, you should probably let that hope dissipate now.
Speaking of LeBron, I cannot wait to watch Netflix’s Starting Five docuseries coming out this year.
The docuseries is set to release ahead of the NBA season, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It’s been in the making for the last year. The series follows James, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Domantas Sabonis through the 2023-24 season.
We’re going to see LeBron crack the 40,000 points record. We’re going to see Jayson Tatum win his first championship. We’re going to see Anthony Edwards be…Anthony Edwards. That should be fun stuff.
Netflix has been cooking with sports documentaries lately. Drive to Survive is an incredible production around Formula 1 racing. That sounds like it’s kind of the basis for what this series is, except for it’s not happening live during the season.
This doesn’t need to be as good as that. But if it gets close? I’ll be satisfied.
— Kiyan Anthony’s quote about Bronny James making it to the NBA is…kind of weird? Idk what to make of this. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
— Speaking of Bronny, he can’t call his dad “Dad” on the court. Here’s Andrew Joseph with more.
— The NBA 2k25 ratings are out and these are…kind of disrespectful to Joel Embiid.
— Could Caitlin Clark be the WNBA’s MVP? Nah. But Rebecca Lobo thinks she might be in the conversation.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today. Have a fantastic weekend. Let’s do this again next week.
Steph Curry has people dreaming of an Olympic reunion.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.
I apologize in advance for bringing this to your attention, but it’s the dog days of the NBA offseason when non-news becomes news, so here’s your weekly dose of non-news: Steph Curry apparently removed the Warriors from the bio on his Instagram account.
That’s according to a fan account on X, which posted then and now screenshots of Curry’s bio which shows the line “Guard for the Warriors” changed to “Olympic Gold Medalist.”
Steph has changed his IG profile picture and also removed “Guard for the @Warriors” from his bio 👀 pic.twitter.com/QwOleXImhh
— 🌞 (@GameOnSteph_) August 21, 2024
As you can imagine, NBA fans on social media acted totally normal about the small change. And by normal I mean they immediately started picking new teams for Curry.
And one the most popular destinations was the Los Angeles Lakers.
He’s going to the Lakers to team up with Bron and AD
— ³⁰ (@StephMuse_) August 21, 2024
It doesn’t take a genius to understand why people would think Curry might be disgruntled and want to team with LeBron James in LA. The Warriors missed the playoffs for the third time in the last five years last season, then shipped out Curry’s brother in splash, Klay Thompson. He’s 36 on what appears to be a sinking ship. Meanwhile, he just had the time of his life winning gold as part of a lethal tandem with James.
Not to mention, Curry’s Instagram activity Wednesday also included him collab-posting photos of himself with James and Kevin Durant, with the caption: “Same Team…Winning Team.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-8NLOIydJ1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Ooooooo.
OK. Look, I can see how this all looks. But we really shouldn’t read too much into it. For starters, I can’t even confirm what Curry’s bio said before today. I think we can trust it didn’t previously have a mention of his gold medal considering, ya know, he didn’t have one two weeks ago. At the same time, this literally means nothing… probably.
I mean, yeah, sure, Curry could have fit both “Guard for the Warriors” and “Olympic Gold Medalist” into his bio. But maybe he just wanted to bask a little in the only success he’s likely to have in 2024. Who knows?
What I do know is we’ve been down this road before with athletes who ultimately stayed where they were. It’s silly to read too much into people’s social media activity — even if there is a more sinister plot behind it all.
It was only a matter time before Angel Reese and the Reese’s Pieces brand collaborated on something. From the moment Reese first revealed that her fans go by the same name as the candy, it seemed too perfect not to happen.
Well, that moment finally arrived Wednesday. The sides announced an apparel deal, and FTW’s Meghan Hall wrote about it here:
“Now, per Boardroom, Reese put those good vibes in the atmosphere to work and officially landed an endorsement deal with The Hersey Company to be a brand ambassador with Reese’s. The partnership includes several Reese’s-themed apparel items, like tees, hoodies and hats. IT’S PERFECT.”
The best kind of partnerships are the ones that happen organically like this. Smart move by Hersey.
— Dijonai Carrington ripped the WNBA over lack of promotion for the Sparks-Sun game in Boston
— Anthony Edwards trashed every 90s player except Michael Jordan
— Steve Kerr trolled Donald Trump with Steph Curry’s celebration
— Erik Spoelstra is the obvious choice to replace Steve Kerr as Team USA’s head coach
