15 Highest Paid Players In Europe 2009-10 Season

[Italia Raps Fan]

This topic came up in another thread so I thought I would make a separate thread about it. Anyway, here is the list of the 15 highest paid basketball players in Europe for the 2009-10 season. Keep in mind these figures are in euros instead of dollars and that these figures are net incomes.

Unlike NBA contracts, the taxes, agent fees, and union fees (if there are any) do not get deducted from the reported salary as it is net salary, whereas in the NBA those all get deducted from the reported salary, as it is gross salary.

Basically, a 2 million euros a season contract in Europe is equal to a full NBA mid-level exception contract (MLE). Hopefully, that helps to put the salaries into proper perspective.

The 15 highest paid players in Europe per season 2009-10:

1. Josh Childress (Olympiacos Greece) - 5.3 million euros net

2. Linas Kleiza (Olympiacos Greece) - 4.6 million euros net

3. Theo Papaloukas (Olympiacos Greece) - 3.5 million euros net

4. Juan Carlos Navarro (FC Barcelona Spain) - 3.0 million euros net

5. Matjaz Smodis (CSKA Moscow Russia) - 2.5 million euros net

6. Nikola Vujcic (Olympiacos Greece) - 2.25 million euros net

7. Sarunas Jasikevicius (Panathinaikos Greece) - 2.2 million euros net

8. Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos Greece) - 2.1 million euros net

9. Gordan Giricek (Fenerbahce Turkey) - 2.0 million euros net

- Jorge Garbajosa (Real Madrid Spain) - 2.0 million euros net

- Bostjan Nachbar (Efes Pilsen Turkey) - 2.0 million euros net

- Marko Jaric (Real Madrid Spain) - 2.0 million euros net

- Sergey Monya (Dynamo Moscow Russia) - 2.0 million euros net

- Ramunas Siskauskas (CSKA Moscow Russia) - 2.0 million euros net

15. Vassilis Spanoulis (Panathinaikos Greece) - 1.9 million euros net

[Cammo101]

Olympiacos is like the Yankees of Europe. Top 3 highest paid players.

[Ricky Business]

Linas Kleiza doesn't get €4.6 million euros a year. He only gets that if Olympiacos wins the Triple Crown. He actually gets €2.3 million euros a year base salary plus he gets a €300,000 euros bonus if Olympiacos wins the Greek Cup, a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Greek Championship, and a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Euroleague.

Olympiacos won the Greek Cup, but did not win the Euroleague. So far the Greek Championship is not yet decided, but they will probably lose that.

So his salary for the year so far is €2.6 million euros, and could be €3.6 million if they are able to win the Greek Championship, which is a little unlikely. So anyway, he won't get the full €4.6 million that he could have.

Josh Childress is actually getting about €5.4 million euros because the US dollar has raised a lot in value versus the euro. Also, Marko Jaric made €1.8 million euros this year, not €2 million. Everything else is correct though.

[The Rebel]

Linas Kleiza doesn't get €4.6 million euros a year. He only gets that if Olympiacos wins the Triple Crown. He actually gets €2.3 million euros a year base salary plus he gets a €300,000 euros bonus if Olympiacos wins the Greek Cup, a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Greek Championship, and a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Euroleague.

Olympiacos won the Greek Cup, but did not win the Euroleague. So far the Greek Championship is not yet decided, but they will probably lose that.

So his salary for the year so far is €2.6 million euros, and could be €3.6 million if they are able to win the Greek Championship, which is a little unlikely. So anyway, he won't get the full €4.6 million that he could have.

Josh Childress is actually getting about €5.4 million euros because the US dollar has raised a lot in value versus the euro. Also, Marko Jaric made €1.8 million euros this year, not €2 million. Everything else is correct though.

Do you have anything to prove what Kleiza makes, as every report in the United States has had him at a 2 year 12.2 million dollar deal with no mention of incentives.

[Ricky Business]

Linas Kleiza doesn't get €4.6 million euros a year. He only gets that if Olympiacos wins the Triple Crown. He actually gets €2.3 million euros a year base salary plus he gets a €300,000 euros bonus if Olympiacos wins the Greek Cup, a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Greek Championship, and a €1 million euros bonus if they win the Euroleague.

Olympiacos won the Greek Cup, but did not win the Euroleague. So far the Greek Championship is not yet decided, but they will probably lose that.

So his salary for the year so far is €2.6 million euros, and could be €3.6 million if they are able to win the Greek Championship, which is a little unlikely. So anyway, he won't get the full €4.6 million that he could have.

Josh Childress is actually getting about €5.4 million euros because the US dollar has raised a lot in value versus the euro. Also, Marko Jaric made €1.8 million euros this year, not €2 million. Everything else is correct though.

Do you have anything to prove what Kleiza makes, as every report in the United States has had him at a 2 year 12.2 million dollar deal with no mention of incentives.

Kleiza makes exactly what I said. His salary is dependent on his team winning championships. The owners of his team stated that. His team will probably for sure lose the Greek Championship so his salary will be €2.6 million euros net.

That salary is more than what US media reports. Because that is a net salary. In the NBA it is a salary that loses federal taxes, local taxes of where each game is played, agent fees, player union fees, and league retirement fees. The total averages 58% deducted from an NBA player's gross salary.

So the income the US media reports is for his base salary of €2.3 million. He actually earned more than that because he got a bonus. He could have earned double that amount if his team won everything. There is a HUGE difference in the European contracts because they are net and the NBA ones do not figure 58% of expenses coming out of them.

So his base salary is what US media reported. With bonuses it could be double that amount.