We have a major update on our Notinhalloffame Basketball Hall of Fame Monitor, where we have now divided our Top 50 Active Players into five positional categories:

Point Guards
Shooting Guards
Small Forwards
Power Forwards
Centers

In each position, we utilize the average traditional and advanced statistics of the last five players who reached the Hall of Fame, but not their induction year, but rather the last five whose Peak Period occurred.  This means that no Senior induction will be part of the average.

The statistical bars we are looking at are:

Games Played
*All-NBA
All-Star
**MVP
***All-Defensive
**Defensive Player of the Year
Points per Game
****Peak Period Points per Game
Total Points
****Peak Period Total Points
Rebounds per Game
****Peak Period Rebounds per Game
Total Rebounds
****Peak Period Total Rebounds
Assists per Game
****Peak Period Assists per Game
Total Assists
****Peak Period Total Assists
Steals per Game
*****Peak Period Steals per Game
Total Steals
****Peak Period Total Steals
Blocks per Game
****Peak Period Blocks per Game
Total Blocks
****Peal Period Total Blocks
Playoff Games
PER
****Peak Period PER
Win Shares
****Peak Period Win Shares
VORP
****Peak Period VORP
Conference Championships
NBA Championships

*All-NBA have weighted points.  3 for the First Team, 2 for the Second Team, and 1 for the Third Team.

**MVP and Defensive Player of the Year have weighted points.  10 for 1^st Place, 9 for 2^nd Place, 8 for 3^rd Place, 7 for 4^th Place, 6 for 5^th Place, 5 for 6^th Place, 4 for 7^th Place, 3 for 8^th Place, 2 for 9^th Place and 1 for 10^th Place.

***All-Defensive have weighted points.  2 for the First Team, 1 for the Second Team.

****Peak Period is the best seven consecutive seasons by a player.

This will be updated at the end of the season.

We look forward to your input, and as always, we thank you for your support.

Today the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season begins and with that we are thrilled to announce that we have updated our Notinhalloffame.com Basketball Hall of Fame Monitor of active players based on their existent accomplishments.

You can see the complete list here, but we are presenting the Pre-2023-24 Top 10 Active Players immediately!

#1. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

#2. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns

#3. Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

#4. Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors

#5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

#6. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

#7. James Harden, Philadelphia 76ers

#8. Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Clippers

#9. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

#10. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Look for many more lists, list revisions, podcasts and more content soon!

It's no secret that the highest-earning NBA players can accumulate serious wealth. From Michael Jordan to LeBron James, some of the most iconic athletes in history have taken home hefty paychecks for their skill and talent on the court. But exactly how much do these all-time greats make?

Naturally, the most successful players will make the most money throughout a long and storied career. And with the influx of cash coming into the NBA in recent years, players that are still playing in the league are the ones that feature at the top of this list, ahead of some more recognizable names such as the MJ, as well as Shaquille O'Neal.

This term, some of the game's most successful players are struggling somewhat. LeBron’s Lakers are currently way down in 11th place in the Western Conference, and online bookmakers such as https://www.bovada.lv/sports/basketball/nba haven’t given them any chance at all of competing for the Larry O’Brien trophy this season. The favorites for the crown this season are the Milwaukee Bucks, and with Giannis Antetokounmpo firing on all cylinders, it's clear to see why.

The Greek Freak still has a long way to go in his career, and there is no doubt he will make a fortune over the next decade or so. But which players have earned the most as of right now? Let’s take a look at some of the top NBA stars to see who has cashed in the most throughout their time in the league.

LeBron James - $430 million

Have you ever just sat back and thought about how insanely successful LeBron James has been, both on and off the court? I mean, this guy is a bonafide living legend who's got a whopping $430 million to his name. And it's not just about the cash, but it's also how LeBron constantly pushes the boundaries of what a basketball player can do.

King James has four NBA championships to his name, spread across three different franchises, namely his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as the Miami Heat and his current team, the Los Angeles Lakers. He's been crushing it on the court for nearly two decades now and he recently became the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer, overhauling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s long-time record.

He had had a massive impact off the court as well, spreading positivity and being a role model for millions. It's hard not to be in awe of LeBron's success story and his ability to dominate both sports and business.

Chris Paul - $360 million

Current Phonix Suns Point Guard Chris Paul has also racked up a mammoth amount of money throughout his nearly two-decade-long career. We're talking about an eye-watering $360 million, across a number of contracts with some of the league's finest franchises, namely the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and his current team, the aforementioned Suns.

This guy's journey in the world of professional basketball has been nothing short of extraordinary. He's stormed past challenges, set impressive records, and been named an NBA All-Star on no less than 12 occasions. Chris Paul's awe-inspiring earnings are a testament to his relentless determination and exceptional skills on the court. It just goes to show that if you put your heart and soul into something you love, you can achieve amazing things.

Despite both his personal and financial success, however, Paul has never managed to pick up an NBA Championship ring. He came close on a number of occasions, none more so than the 2021 campaign, where Paul and his Suns reached the NBA Finals. However, the might of the current table-topping Bucks was too much to handle, with the Suns eventually succumbing to a 4-2 series defeat.

Kevin Durant - $350 million

Kevin Durant is a name that will live long in the annals of basketball history. From a humble college basketball career to an incredible professional one, he has certainly come a long way. He has earned awards by the bucketload, including back-to-back NBA Championships in 2017 and 2018 with the Golden State Warriors, as well as being named the MVP in both of those Finals successes.

And when it comes to money, it seems like the man can't stop earning it. Throughout his illustrious career, he has earned around $350 million and counting. It's no wonder why he's been hailed as one of the most successful NBA superstars in recent memory, both on the court and off it. And at the age of just 34, he still has plenty more left in the tank, and plenty more dollars left to earn.

Durant has recently moved on to the Phoenix Suns and is a teammate of the aforementioned Chris Paul. The Arizona-based outfit is currently fourth in the Western Conference and KD could very well be the man that can assist the 37-year-old Paul to perhaps his first and only NBA Championship.

Chris Paul only played one season (2019-20) with Oklahoma City, and while it was near the end of his career, make no mistake, he was still a star, and a player who led them to the playoffs. 

Paul was an All-Star and All-NBA player (Second Team) for the first time in four years, and in his lone OKC season, he was rejuvenated and developed his already strong leadership skills.  The Point Guard averaged 17.7 Points per Game, and brought back his .550 eFG% over .550.  In terms of his advanced numbers, his PER went back over 20 (21.7) after dipping below that mark the year before with Houston.   

Paul, who had been traded to Oklahoma City in a transaction that sent Russell Westbrook the other way, was shipped to Phoenix the year after, making CP3 a one-and-done with the Thunder.

Again, if this seems strange, remember that in basketball, a single player makes more impact than in any other team sport.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com are always looking to add new sections to our website.  Last month, we uploaded our top 100 active NFL players and how their Hall of Fame resumes stack up.  

We are doing the exact same thing with the NBA.

As opposed to 100 like we did in Football, we are going with only 50 in Basketball.  

We liked the idea that we used in Football with a modern “Modern Positional Average”, so we are doing something similar here.  With advanced analytics, we decided that we don’t have to isolate based on position so they are all on one list.

Inspired by Jay Jaffe’s JAWS statistic that looks at the best seven-year stretch of a baseball player according to bWAR, we are doing the same with current basketball players.  Specifically, we compiled the average PER, Win Shares and VORP for each of the past Hall of Famers based on their best seven-year period.  The additional thinking behind this is that in Basketball, there is an additional focus on periods of greatness as opposed to sports like Baseball, where compiling statistics is more glorified.

To keep everything modern, the average we used is the last 14 inductees, but only the ones who were Modern Era Inductees.  This excludes Direct-Elect Candidates (contributors, Early African-American Pioneers, International and Veterans).  The only exception is Vlade Divac, who was chosen via the International Committee, but has a healthy NBA career to draw upon.

As of this writing, the 14 players from the last four induction classes who we are using for the composite averages are:

Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, Vlade Divac, Bobby Jones, Grant Hill, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Sidney Moncrief, Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal, Jack Sikma and Paul Westphal. 

While we are not looking at traditional statistics, we are averaging out All-Star Games and All-NBA Selections.  With the latter, we are looking at this in weighted fashion.  In terms of Third Team All-NBA Selections, one point will be assigned, Second Team All-NBA Selections will have two points will be granted, and First Team All-NBA Selections will have three points.  

Here are the averages:

Based on their elite seven-year stretch the average PER of the last 14 Modern Era Hall of Famers is 21.5.

Based on their elite seven-year stretch, the average Win Shares of the last 14 Modern Era Hall of Famers is 65.1.

Based on their elite seven-year stretch, the average VORP of the last 14 Modern Era Hall of Famers is 27.8.

With All-Star and All-NBA Selections, we look at the entire career of the player.  

The average All-Star Selections of the last 14 Modern Era Hall of Famers is 7.4.

The average All-Pro Selections (based on the pointed average of one for a Third Team, two for a Second Team and three for a First Team Selection) is 9.8.

We are also adding NBA Championships. Often,  players in this team sport more than any other (except for NFL Quarterbacks) are judged by the number of rings they have.  Perhaps, that shouldn't be as regarded as it is, considering the average amount of titles of our last 14 Modern Era Hall of Famers is less than 1.  Specifically, it is 0.79.

Wrapping this up in a bow, the six variables we are looking at Elite Period PER, Elite Period Win Shares, Elite Period VORP, All-Star Games, Weighted All-Pro Selections, NBA Championships.

This will be a regular feature on Notinhalloffame.com, and we will be updating this at the end of the season.

You can find our new section HERE.

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank all of you for your support!

Pre-2019-20 Rank: #3, Pre-2020-21 Rank #4, Pre-2021-22 Rank: #3, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #4, Pre-2023-24 Rank: #4.

*Peak Period: 2007-08 to 2013-14.

There is no doubt that Chris Paul will enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on his first try, and he should.  With a resume of 12 All-Stars, 11 All-NBA Selections, five Assists Titles and six Steals titles, and the statistical landmark as the first player to compile 20,000 Points and 11,000 Assists, Springfield will roll out the red carpet for the legendary Guard.

Saying all of that, what would he have given up for a Title?  It is not that he has not been close, as he was on an excellent Clippers team and a Suns team that made the 2021 Finals, but he is now in a journeyman phase where he adds a veteran presence.  This year, he joined the San Antonio Spurs, his seventh team, and is still looking for that elusive NBA Championship.

Paul might challenge Charles Barkley and Karl Malone for the unofficial title of the best player never to win a ring.