The NBA Cup provides a monetary award for each player who advances to the knockout round, with a not-insignificant sum (especially for those on smaller contracts) going to each player on the championship-winning team.
Here are the NBA’s estimated prize pool winnings for players in this year’s tournament:
Championship-winning team: $514,971 for each player.
Losing Championship team: $205,988 for each player.
Losing semi-finalists: $102,994 for each player.
Losing quarter-finalists: $51,497 for each player.
Such winnings might not register with the NBA’s highest earners on maximum contracts — Stephen Curry made a league-high $51.9 million last season — but it could boost the fortunes of rookies signed to minimum contracts ($1,157,153 per player) and especially those on two-way contracts ($578,577), whose salaries would almost be doubled with the prize.
Several max-contract players have spoken publicly about the added winnings for their less-highly-paid teammates providing extra motivation for them to win the NBA Cup.
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