Research: Which NBA teams spend the most money on stars?
For a league in which star power so greatly determines outcomes, money is more evenly distributed among players than you might expect.
In the last 20 years, All-Star players (roughly 5 percent of the players in any given NBA season) have received only 16.59 percent of total league salaries. For All-NBA players (15 annually), the number would be 10.37 percent.
But which teams spend the most money on those star players?
We tried to find out by focusing on All-NBA selections in the past two decades (since we have 30 teams in the league).
Unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles Lakers top the list, having spent $792.7 million on All-NBA players – 30.61 percent of their total salary expenditure. Interestingly, they rank 29th in spending on non-All-NBA players.
More surprisingly, the small-market Oklahoma City Thunder rank second, investing $484.8 million in All-NBA talent. They also rank last in non-star player expenses. A prime example of efficient resource allocation right there.
For the full ranking, check below: