For some NBA players, the All-Star Game may just be an exhibition, a chance to showcase their talents and be on the spotlight while the whole world is watching. However, for years the league has found the need to keep their top athletes motivated and have provided them extra reasons to play for.
Have you ever stopped to think how much players earn at the All-Star Weekend? Well, we break it down for you, contest per contest.
The competition has changed continually throughout the years. For example, among the recent modifications the NBA made to this event, the concepts of captains and drafted players were introduced as an effort to bring more competitiveness and therefore, more fever!
As some of those changes have brought great results and excitement, it still seems that for the All-Star participation the most important motivation is to get paid. As there are different reward pools for winning and losing stars during the All-Star Game, there are also additional prizes for participants in other events at the All-Star weekend.
Ja, Zion and Luka put on a SHOW at Rising Stars in 2020!
2023 #JordanRisingStars: Feb. 17 on TNT pic.twitter.com/B5tXK40cpB
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 16, 2023
By 2018, the NBA was making so much money off of this exhibition, they had no choice but to double the reward for each All-Star winner that year. At first, the bar was at $50,000 for each player who was victorious at the end of that match in Los Angeles, but at the last collective bargaining agreement, the league increased the payout to $100,000 per player.
On the other hand, only the winning squad got their raise, as the All-Star game losers are still percieving $25,000 to this day. That said, players spoke out about the difference in prizes between both sides, saying it works as an incentive to compete at a higher level during that basketball showcase. So the main event remains with the same conditions as this Saturday night’s event comes with a $100,000 reward.
What about other competitions across the All-Star weekend?
Just like the All-Star game winners, whoever conquers the NBA Dunk Contest earns the six-figure reward. So you can guess how this is going; the runner-up wins $50,000 and the third and fourth-place participants earn $20,000 each. Here’s where it gets tricky, as for the Slam Dunk Contest, not all players who are competing will get a reward.
Let’s get into shooting range territory. For the Three-Point Contest, the winner is offered $50,000, as last year Karl-Anthony Edwards conquered the competition. Check out the last contest in Cleveland where the Timberwolves guard recorded 29 points:
What about the youngsters? Back in 2019, it was reported that Kyle Kuzma mentioned he felt motivated when he recieved a $25,000 bonus given to the best player on the team who won the Rising Stars. On the losing side, each player would only earn $10,000.
Now that the NBA changed its format for the rookie and sophomore tournament, breaking it into a four-team bracket instead of only a two-game competition, it still hasn’t been reported whether this has had an effect over the winning or losing team’s rewards.
