NBA players on standard contracts get paid twice a month, 24 times a year, with checks landing on the 1st and 15th from November 15 through the following October. That is the default under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and it means paychecks continue well into the offseason. Players and teams can agree to a compressed schedule that ends in April, or arrange a lump-sum advance before the season starts. What actually clears the bank on those dates is a smaller number, because escrow, taxes, fines, and any suspension deductions come out first.
The 24-Payment Default
The CBA splits a player’s annual salary into 24 equal semi-monthly installments across a full twelve months. The first check hits November 15, matching the start of the regular season, and payments continue on the first and fifteenth of every month through the following October.1NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2023. Article 2 Uniform Player Contract Paychecks keep arriving long after the last game is played.
The math is straightforward. A player earning $10 million a year receives roughly $416,667 per installment before taxes and withholdings. Someone on the veteran minimum sees the same cadence, just with much smaller checks.
If a contract doesn’t specify a preference, the 24-payment schedule applies automatically.
The Compressed 12-Payment Schedule
Players can negotiate to receive their salary during the season only. The most common alternative compresses payments into a six-month window, typically running November through April. Under this 12-payment structure, the same $10 million salary arrives in larger semi-monthly installments that wrap up around the end of the regular season rather than stretching into summer.1NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2023. Article 2 Uniform Player Contract
Neither option pays more overall. The choice is about timing and cash-flow preference. A player who wants steady income through the offseason takes the default. A player who prefers to receive and invest the money faster takes the 12-payment version.
Salary Advances Before the Season
A player can also negotiate to receive a portion of the salary as a single lump sum on or before October 1, ahead of the first regular paycheck on November 15. The CBA caps the advance at 80 percent of the player’s guaranteed compensation for that season, and the terms have to be written into the Uniform Player Contract before the season starts.1NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2023. Article 2 Uniform Player Contract A player can’t request an advance mid-season once the pay cycle is already running.
The advance doesn’t add money to the deal. Payroll deducts it proportionally from the remaining semi-monthly checks, so a player who takes a large advance in October sees smaller installments the rest of the year.
Short-Term Contracts: 10-Day and Rest-of-Season
Starting January 5 each season, teams can sign players to 10-day contracts to fill short-term roster needs. A 10-day contract lasts the longer of ten calendar days or three team games, and it pays the league minimum prorated by days covered. The formula divides the full-season minimum by the total number of days in the regular season, then multiplies by the days on the contract.2NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2023. 2023 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement
A rest-of-season contract works the same way but covers the remainder of the current season. Both contract types are terminated by written notice rather than the full waiver process, and the player’s compensation is settled on the next scheduled league pay date.2NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2023. 2023 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement So a 10-day player doesn’t wait long after the contract ends to see the money.
Two-Way Contracts
Two-Way players, who move between an NBA roster and its G League affiliate, used to have their pay adjusted daily based on where they were assigned. The 2023 CBA replaced that with a single flat salary regardless of assignment.3NBA G League. Two-Way Tracker: NBA Players Signed to Two-Way Contracts The pay is well below the standard league minimum, but it arrives predictably on the same semi-monthly rhythm.
What Gets Taken Out of Each Check
The number on the contract is not the number that hits the account. Several deductions come off before the money lands.
Escrow Withholding
The league withholds a percentage of every player’s paycheck into an escrow account. The money guarantees that players collectively don’t receive more than their designated share of Basketball Related Income, which runs roughly 50 percent of total league revenue. Standard escrow withholding has historically been between 8 and 10 percent of player compensation, though during the pandemic the league raised it temporarily to 25 percent.
After each season, the league reconciles total revenue against total compensation paid. If players were overpaid relative to their BRI share, the overage stays with the owners. If not, the escrow money goes back. Players should expect around 10 percent of each paycheck to be unavailable until the reconciliation after the Finals.
Fines
Fines for technical fouls, missed media obligations, and other infractions are withheld from the player’s next scheduled paycheck. The team’s payroll department handles the deduction, so the money never touches the player’s account. On a max contract, most fines barely register. On the minimum, a $25,000 or $50,000 fine takes a real bite.
Suspension Deductions
Missed games cost salary on a specific formula:
- Fewer than 20 games missed: 1/145th of annual salary per game.
- 20 or more games missed: 1/110th of annual salary per game.
The jump at 20 games matters. A player earning $30 million a year loses about $206,897 per game under the lighter formula and roughly $272,727 per game once the suspension crosses the 20-game threshold.4NBA. Highlights of the Collective Bargaining Agreement The deducted amounts are spread across the player’s remaining paychecks for the season rather than taken all at once.
The Jock Tax
Every paycheck arrives already reduced by federal withholding, and state withholding is more complicated. Because players earn income in every state where they play games, practice, or attend mandatory team events, they owe state income tax in each of those jurisdictions. A typical NBA player files around 15 state returns a year.
Most states use a duty-day formula: days worked in the state divided by total duty days in the season, multiplied by total compensation. A player on a California team, where the top rate is 13.3 percent, faces a heavier combined state tax burden than a player on a Texas or Florida team, where there is no state income tax. After accounting for road games in taxing states, players on Florida or Texas teams face an effective state rate around 3 percent on their full salary, while California-based players land closer to 9.7 percent. On a $20 million salary, the gap is roughly $1.3 million a year. Accountants handle the multistate filings, but the withholding reduces each check throughout the season.
Playoff Money Comes Separately
Playoff earnings don’t run through the regular pay schedule. The league funds a Player Playoff Pool from postseason revenue, and the 2025 pool totaled approximately $34.7 million. The pool is split among teams based on how far they advance, and the champion’s share is the largest.
Shares for the 2025 postseason ranged from roughly $466,000 for first-round exits up to about $12.4 million for the champion’s full roster. Teams that competed only in the Play-In Tournament received nothing from the pool. Once a team’s total share is set, the players vote on how to divide it, with starters and key contributors typically getting full shares and late-arriving or injured players sometimes getting half.
The money is paid as a lump sum after the Finals conclude in June. It doesn’t count against the salary cap or affect a player’s individual contract.