In the salary ranking of NBA players in 2008-09 season, Kevin Garnett of Celtic topped the list with $24.75 million. Kidd of Mavericks and Jermaine ONeal of Raptors tied for second place with $265,438 +0.37 million, followed by Kobe Bryant (Lakers), O 'Neal (Sun), Iverson (Pistons) and Marbury (Knicks). Rocket center Yao Ming ranked15.07 million dollars.
The highest in history was in the season of 1997- 1998, and Jordan's annual salary reached $33140,000, which was called the "working emperor". This salary record has never been surpassed.