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

Here is a look at the 25 players who have made at least $165 million, according to data collected from Spotrac and Basketball-Reference:

25. 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

24. Russell Westbrook ― $166.9 million

Seasons: 11

Highest single-season salary: $35.7 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 7

NBA First-team All-NBA: 2

23. Jermaine O'Neal ― $167.6 million

Seasons: 18

Highest single-season salary: $23.0 million

Championships: 0

All-Star Games: 6

NBA First-team All-NBA: 0