Highest Paid Players

• According to Forbes.com, the top 10 players for the 2010-11 season will make over $17 million a piece. Kobe Bryant made $24.8 million for the season, while Rashard Lewis made $20.5 million and Kevin Garnett $18.8 million. The NBA operates on a salary cap that dictates how much each team has to pay is players in a given season. The collective bargaining agreement as of the 2010-11 season specified certain "slots" for these salaries. Players with zero to six years of experience must make at least 25 percent of this cap. Those with seven to nine years experience can get up to 30 percent, and veterans with 10 or more seasons must make up at least 35 percent of the cap.
  
  

Minimum Salaries

• The same bargaining agreement that outlines maximum contracts also dictates league minimum salaries. For the 2010-11 season, a player with no experience had to make $473,604. A player with 10 years or more had to be paid at least $1.35 million. For the 2011-12 season, this scale is scheduled to increase to $490,180 for rookies and $1.4 million for 10-year veterans, a jump of approximately 3.5 percent.
  
  

The Norm

• The average NBA salary will fall somewhere between the negotiated minimum and the maximum contracts. For 2010-11, the average is $5.8 million.. This figure serves as more than a simple statistic. If a team has exceeded the season's salary cap, the "mid-level exception" allows the team to sign a single player at this league average or split the amount between two players.
  
  

WNBA

• The Women's National Basketball Association, which is operated by the NBA, also has a pay scale system. According to the WNBA player's association, the 2011 first round picks will get between $38,534 and $46,708. The maximum contract for experienced players tops out at $103,500 for the same season. The WNBA players are eligible to receive merit bonuses for performance-based awards and revenue sharing opportunities if ticket sales exceed forecasts. The WNBA salaries may be much lower, but the season is shorter (34 games compared to the men's 82). The WNBA season also ends in time for the top players to compete in European leagues where they can make more money.