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Over the past 24 years, Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban watched the NBA evolve from the league's top breadwinners making a shade under $20 million per year in 2000-01 to Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum signing a $314 million max contract extension in 2024. While Cuban is excited about Klay Thompson joining the Mavericks in 2024-25, on the business side of things, he believes NBA players' salaries will continue to rise to reach staggering heights. He spoke with Shannon Sharpe on a recent episode of Sharpe's “Club Shay Shay” and opened up about how the league's new CBA, which goes into effect in 2025-26, will lead to players making more money than the owners.
“This year, this coming year is still old CBA, old TV money. Once that new TV money kicks in, they’ll be making more money a year than I will,” Cuban said. “I don’t care how many billions you have, like I don’t have a real job, right. So, I’m not making $100 million dollars every year. You’re going to have players making more than the owners. That’s okay, right? There is no league without them. That’s what makes basketball, the NBA, different than every other sport.”
Unlike the other major sports leagues, NBA players' images and likeness are more recognizable than those of the NFL or NHL, according to Cuban.
“You couldn’t recognize 50 of 53 guys on an NFL roster if they walked in the door. NBA particularly, if you play 2K you knew all 15 guys and the 2-way guys, too, and that’s unique,” Cuban added. “You don’t have that in baseball, you don’t have that in soccer, or the NHL. That’s unique; they are the league, and they earn every penny of it.”
As the association continues to grow globally, top NBA players will soon command salaries beyond half a billion dollars rather than over a quarter billion, as Tatum's $314 million contract kicks in 2025-26. Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks for $3.5 billion and originally bought them for only $285 million.
Mark Cuban says Klay Thomson has ‘a lot to prove' with Mavericks
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Minority owner Mark Cuban and Mavs fans are excited about Klay Thompson joining the Western Conference champion Mavericks. Parting ways with the Warriors, the only team Thompson's played for throughout his 13 seasons in the NBA, Cuban believes the four-time champion has much to prove in 2024-25.
“Klay's got a lot to prove, which is great because those are the kinds of guys you want on your squad, right? Because they're going to work harder than ever to prove people wrong,” Cuban said.
“@KlayThompson's got a lot to prove. … Klay was ready for a move. All the grief he got last year – particularly the way it ended. So the timing was right.” – @mcuban pic.twitter.com/FA3oVzKw9K
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) September 25, 2024
Thompson signed a three-year, $50 million contract with the Mavs over the summer.
