Evolution of Salary

If you're a pro athlete, you earn a lot (cliché...cough). Especially if you're a professional in the NBA. In pro leagues the salary cap is the most important thing when a team want to sign a baller. NBA's salary cap is a soft cap, which means that the cap is not a holy thing, teams are allowed to exceed the limit. That's costly because of luxury tax which is triggered if average team payroll exceeds a certain number higher than the cap. Another important thing is the minimum and maximum salary for individual players. Under the CBA (collective bargaining agreement), a player's maximum possible salary increases along with his time of service in the league. Another thing: the Bird exception. It means that NBA teams are allowed to exceed the cap number in order to retain the rights to a player who has already been on the squad.

The main goals of these regulations? The consistency, the consistency and...yes, the consistency.

Is this a successful aspiration? Yes, partly, but the most perceptible thing is the growth. The average NBA salary is huge, the highest of any major sports.

Finally, check out these charts:

Evolution of NBA salaries

Season	Cap	Max. team salary	Avg. player salary	Min. player salary
1985/86	4,23 mill. $	8,76 mill. $ (Lakers)	0,37 mill. $	0,07 mill. $
1990/91	11,87 mill. $	14,47 mill. $ (Cavs)	0,86 mill. $	0,12 mill. $
1995/96	23 mill. $	43,33 mill. $ (Knicks)	1,53 mill. $	0,2 mill. $
2000/01	35,5 mill. $	86,51 mill. $ (Blazers)	3,24 mill. $	0,32 mill. $
2005/06	49,5 mill. $	126,61 mill. $ (Knicks)	4,03 mill. $	0,4 mill. $

Top 5 earners then and now

Season	Rank	Name (Team)	Salary
1985/86	1st	Magic Johnson (Lakers)	2.5 mill. $
	2nd	Moses Malone (Sixers)	2.15 mill. $
	3rd	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lakers)	2 mill. $
	4th	Larry Bird (Celtics)	1.8 mill. $
	5th	Jack Sikma (Supersonics)	1.6 mill. $
1990/91	1st	Patrick Ewing (Knicks)	4.25 mill. $
	2nd	Hot Rod Williams (Cavs)	3.8 mill. $
	3rd	Hakeem Olajuwon (Rockets)	3.2 mill. $
	4th	Charles Barkley (Sixers)	2.9 mill. $
	5th	Chris Mullin (Warriors)	2.85 mill. $
1995/96	1st	Patrick Ewing (Knicks)	18.7 mill. $
	2nd	Clyde Drexler (Rockets)	9.8 mill. $
	3rd	David Robinson (Spurs)	7.7 mill. $
	4th	Chris Webber (Bullets)	7 mill. $
	5th	Joe Dumars (Pistons)	6.9 mill. $
2000/01	1st	Kevin Garnett (T'Wolves)	19.6 mill. $
	2nd	Shaquille O'Neal (Lakers)	19.3 mill. $
	3rd	Alonzo Mourning (Heat)	16.9 mill. $
	4th	Juwan Howard (Wizards)	16.9 mill. $
	5th	Hakeem Olajuwon (Rockets)	16.7 mill. $
2005/06	1st	Shaquille O'Neal (Heat)	20 mill. $
	2nd	Allan Houston (Knicks)	19.1 mill. $
	3rd	Chris Webber (Sixers)	19.1 mill. $
	4th	Kevin Garnett (T'Wolves)	18 mill. $
	5th	Allen Iverson (Sixers)	16.5 mill. $