The 25 highest-paid NBA players of all time

Thanks to the NBA's skyrocketing TV contracts and smaller rosters, a basketball career can be quite lucrative compared to other major sports.

This is especially true for the athletes who played a large chunk of their careers between the late 1990s and the 2011 lockout. These years led to some large contracts for players we might not consider among the all-time greats.

But with the recent surge in the NBA's salary cap, today's stars are starting to catch up, and even surpass, those players in career earnings.

Here is a look at the 25 players who have made at least $160 million, according to data collected from Spotrac and Basketball-Reference:

25. Tony Parker ― $160.8 million

Seasons: 16

Highest single-season salary: $14.4 million

Championships: 4

All-Star Games: 6

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

24. Amar'e Stoudemire ― $161.6 million

Seasons: 14

Highest single-season salary: $23.4 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 6

NBA First-team All-NBA: 1

23. Tracy McGrady ― $163.0 million

Seasons: 15

Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 7

NBA First-team All-NBA: 2

22. Elton Brand — $165.9 million

Seasons: 17

Highest single-season salary: $17.1 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 2

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

21. Vince Carter ― $167.1 million

Seasons: 20

Highest single-season salary: $18.3 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 8

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

20. Jermaine O'Neal ― $167.6 million

Seasons: 18

Highest single-season salary: $23 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 6

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

19. Tyson Chandler ― $171.6 million

Seasons: 17

Highest single-season salary: $14.8 million

Championships: 1

All-Star Games: 1

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

18. Chris Webber ― $178.2 million

Seasons: 15

Highest single-season salary: $19.1 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 5

NBA First-team All-NBA: 1

17. Ray Allen ― $184.4 million

Seasons: 18

Highest single-season salary: $18.8 million

Championships: 2

All-Star Games: 10

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

16. Zach Randolph ― $184.9 million

Seasons: 17

Highest single-season salary: $17.8 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 2

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

15. Chris Paul ― $186.8 million

Seasons: 13

Highest single-season salary: $24.3 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 9

NBA First-team All-NBA: 4

14. Jason Kidd ― $187.7 million

Seasons: 19

Highest single-season salary: $21.4 million

Championships: 1

All-Star Games: 10

NBA First-team All-NBA: 5

13. Dwyane Wade ― $194.0 million

Seasons: 15

Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million

Championships: 3

All-Star Games: 12

NBA First-team All-NBA: 2

12. Paul Pierce ― $195.1 million

Seasons: 19

Highest single-season salary: $19.8 million

Championships: 1

All-Star Games: 10

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

11. Pau Gasol — $199.0 million

Seasons: 17

Highest single-season salary: $19.3 million

Championships: 2

All-Star Games: 6

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

10. Dwight Howard — $210.2 million

Seasons: 14

Highest single-season salary: $23.2 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 8

NBA First-team All-NBA: 5

9. Chris Bosh — $212.2 million

Seasons: 13

Highest single-season salary: $23.7 million

Championships: 2

All-Star Games: 11

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

8. Joe Johnson — $214.0 million

Seasons: 17

Highest single-season salary: $24.9 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 7

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

7. Carmelo Anthony ― $227.4 million

Seasons: 15

Highest single-season salary: $26.2 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 10

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0

6. LeBron James ― $233.9 million

Seasons: 15

Highest single-season salary: $33.3 million

Championships: 3

All-Star Games: 13

NBA First-team All-NBA: 11

5. Tim Duncan ― $240.1 million

Seasons: 19

Highest single-season salary: $22.2 million

Championships: 5

All-Star Games: 15

NBA First-team All-NBA: 10

4. Dirk Nowitzki ― $246.6 million

Seasons: 20

Highest single-season salary: $25.0 million

Championships: 1

All-Star Games: 13

NBA First-team All-NBA: 4

3. Shaquille O'Neal ― $286.3 million

Seasons: 19

Highest single-season salary: $27.7 million

Championships: 4

All-Star Games: 15

NBA First-team All-NBA: 8

2. Kobe Bryant ― $323.3 million

Seasons: 20

Highest single-season salary: $30.5 million

Championships: 5

All-Star Games: 18

NBA First-team All-NBA: 11

1. Kevin Garnett ― $334.3 million

Seasons: 21

Highest single-season salary: $28 million

Championships: 1

All-Star Games: 15

NBA First-team All-NBA: 4

Now check out which schools have the best college football programs.

The 30 most dominant college football programs