LeBron James, forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, has been named the highest paid NBA player of 2023, with a $117.6 million contract, according to an Oct. 20 report from Forbes.
Forbes named the 11 highest-paid players by calculating on-court earnings for the 2023 and 2024 season including base salaries and bonuses, and off-court income including endorsements and licensing. Incentives based on individual or team performance were not included.
Here are the head orthopedic physicians of the teams the highest-paid stars play for:
1. LeBron James, $117.6 million, plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, who are cared for by head team physician and director of orthopedic surgery Kristofer Jones, MD. Dr. Jones is an orthopedic surgeon at Los Angeles-based UCLA Health specializing in sports-related musculoskeletal injuries.
2. Stephen Curry, $101.9 million, plays for the Golden State Warriors, who are cared for by lead orthopedic surgeon Chris Lehman, MD, an orthopedic specialist at the Permanente Medical Group in Oakland, Calif.
3. Kevin Durant, $91.4 million, plays for the Phoenix Suns, who are cared for by head team physician and orthopedist Evan Lederman, MD, a physician at Phoenix-based Banner Health.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, $85.6 million, plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, who are cared for by head team physician William Raasch, MD, a sports medicine specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
5. Damian Lillard, $63.6 million, plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.
6. Klay Thompson, $61.2 million, plays for the Golden State Warriors.
7 (tie). Joel Embiid, $57.6 million, plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, who are cared for by a team of orthopedic surgeons at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.
7 (tie). James Harden, $57.6 million, plays for the Philadelphia 76ers.
9. Jimmy Butler, $55.2 million, plays for the Miami Heat, who are cared for by head team physician F. Harlan Selesnick, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Baptist Health Orthopedic Care in Coral Gables, Fla. He has been the team's physician since 1988.
10 (tie). Paul George, $54.6 million, plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, who are cared for by head team physician Steven Yoon, MD. Dr. Yoon is the director of clinical regenerative medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, where he specializes in advanced non-surgical orthobiologic and image-guided treatments for sports injuries
10 (tie). Nikola Jokic, $54.6 million, plays for the Denver Nuggets, who are cared for by head team physician Jason Dragoo, MD, an orthopedic sports medicine specialist at the University of Colorado Hospital in Englewood.