NBA Players From These Colleges Make the Most Money

One reason students attend college is to learn skills that help them land jobs and maybe even find careers.

So for any aspiring professional basketball players, this list is for you. These are the universities that produce players that make the most money.

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Some schools churn out many NBA talents, such as Kentucky and Duke, each with over 20 active players. Others, such as Arizona State, have only a few players in the league, but they make the list because one star has landed massive contracts: James Harden accounts for 99.26% of the total earnings by Sun Devils.

Read on to see which schools head the list, and to see if your favorite college makes the top 25.

• Total earnings: $214,167,776
• Active Players: 4
• Top Earner: Derrick Rose
• Top Earner’s Team: New York Knicks
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $155,051,613
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 72.4%

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• Total earnings: $216,670,772
• Active Players: 8
• Top Earner: Draymond Green
• Top Earner’s Team: Golden State Warriors
• Top Earner’s Position: Power Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $105,729,003
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 48.8%

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• Total earnings: $226,023,362
• Active Players: 2
• Top Earner: James Harden
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Shooting Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $224,349,734
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 99.26%

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• Total earnings: $232,284,248
• Active Players: 8
• Top Earner: Kyle Lowry
• Top Earner’s Team: Toronto Raptors
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $190,048,698
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 81.82%

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• Total earnings: $233,815,918
• Active Players: 3
• Top Earner: Paul George
• Top Earner’s Team: Los Angeles Clippers
• Top Earner’s Position: Shooting Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $177,854,610
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 76.07%

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• Total earnings: $239,223,625
• Active Players: 3
• Top Earner: Thaddeus Young
• Top Earner’s Team: Chicago Bulls
• Top Earner’s Position: Power Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $121,213,318
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 50.67%

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• Total earnings: $261,855,670
• Active Players: 7
• Top Earner: Jamal Crawford
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Shooting Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $122,587,577
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 46.81%

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• Total earnings: $281,453,847
• Active Players: 3
• Top Earner: Blake Griffin
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Power Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $223,359,012
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 79.36%

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• Total earnings: $287,035,915
• Active Players: 4
• Top Earner: Mike Conley
• Top Earner’s Team: Utah Jazz
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $206,087,986
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 71.8%

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• Total earnings: $288,967,188
• Active Players: 5
• Top Earner: DeAndre Jordan
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Center
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $149,247,051
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 51.65%

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• Total earnings: $289,427,676
• Active Players: 6
• Top Earner: Brook Lopez
• Top Earner’s Team: Milwaukee Bucks
• Top Earner’s Position: Center
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $144,840,372
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 50.04%

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• Total earnings: $299,654,384
• Active Players: 5
• Top Earner: Jimmy Butler
• Top Earner’s Team: Miami Heat
• Top Earner’s Position: Small Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $144,395,731
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 48.19%

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• Total earnings: $360,186,481
• Active Players: 8
• Top Earner: Eric Gordon
• Top Earner’s Team: Houston Rockets
• Top Earner’s Position: Shooting Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $138,786,115
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 38.53%

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• Total earnings: $381,365,152
• Active Players: 11
• Top Earner: Joel Embiid
• Top Earner’s Team: Philadelphia 76ers
• Top Earner’s Position: Center
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $100,775,877
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 26.43%

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• Total earnings: $389,252,457
• Active Players: 6
• Top Earner: Carmelo Anthony
• Top Earner’s Team: Portland Trail Blazers
• Top Earner’s Position: Power Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $259,881,402
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 66.76%

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• Total earnings: $396,176,804
• Active Players: 11
• Top Earner: Andre Iguodala
• Top Earner’s Team: Miami Heat
• Top Earner’s Position: Small Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $179,672,344
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 45.35%

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• Total earnings: $400,732,041
• Active Players: 12
• Top Earner: Harrison Barnes
• Top Earner’s Team: Sacramento Kings
• Top Earner’s Position: Small Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $127,522,137
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 31.82%

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• Total earnings: $419,160,229
• Active Players: 9
• Top Earner: DeMar DeRozan
• Top Earner’s Team: San Antonio Spurs
• Top Earner’s Position: Shooting Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $175,709,827
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 41.92%

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• Total earnings: $433,013,793
• Active Players: 5
• Top Earner: Al Horford
• Top Earner’s Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
• Top Earner’s Position: Power Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $212,136,768
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 48.99%

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• Total earnings: $482,861,864
• Active Players: 6
• Top Earner: Rudy Gay
• Top Earner’s Team: San Antonio Spurs
• Top Earner’s Position: Small Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $162,706,820
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 33.7%

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• Total earnings: $582,429,158
• Active Players: 7
• Top Earner: Chris Paul
• Top Earner’s Team: Phoenix Suns
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $299,909,419
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 51.49%

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• Total earnings: $680,249,495
• Active Players: 10
• Top Earner: Kevin Durant
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Small Forward
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $264,153,846
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 38.83%

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• Total earnings: $781,776,239
• Active Players: 27
• Top Earner: Kyrie Irving
• Top Earner’s Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $158,426,099
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 20.26%

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• Total earnings: $941,478,881
• Active Players: 13
• Top Earner: Russell Westbrook
• Top Earner’s Team: Washington Wizards
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $244,370,524
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 25.96%

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• Total earnings: $1,219,309,400
• Active Players: 29
• Top Earner: John Wall
• Top Earner’s Team: Houston Rockets
• Top Earner’s Position: Point Guard
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $184,827,108
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.16%

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Methodology: GOBankingRates used Spotrac’s NBA College Tracker data to find the 25 colleges that turned out players who make the most total NBA money. For each of these colleges, GOBankingRates found the following data points: (1) university name; (2) total active players in the NBA; (3) total career earnings from these players, (4) top career earner from each school; (5) top earner’s career earnings; and (6) percent top earner’s career earnings make of the (3) total career earnings for the school. All data was collected on and up to date as of April 26, 2021.