Jaylen Brown Signs NBA Record $304M Contract With Celtics
The Boston Celtics and star Jaylen Brown reached a supermax contract extension that is the richest deal in the history of the NBA at $304 million over five years; it tops the $276 million extension for Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
Brown is just the second athlete in U.S. team sports history to sign a contract worth at least $60 million annually after Portland’s Damian Lillard, who signed a two-year extension in 2022 worth a tick more at $60.9 million per year on average beginning with the 2026-27 season.
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The Brown contract continues a string of lucrative deals for NBA stars that rise in lockstep with the salary cap, which is tied to leaguewide revenue. The NBA now represents 32 of the 50 biggest contracts in North American sports by annual value, and 76 players are set to make at least $20 million next season, according to Spotrac.
The final value of the Brown and Lillard deals will be based on future NBA salary caps. The current figures are estimates based on the projected caps. The NBA salary cap will see a bump from the next round of TV contracts, which will kick in during the 2025-26 season.
Brown, who is represented by Jason Glushon, qualified for a supermax extension when he was awarded second-team All-NBA honors for the 2022-23 season. His teammate, Jayson Tatum, is also eligible for a supermax extension next season. Brown will make $31.8 million in the final year of his current contract, and the new deal is projected to start at $52.3 million during the 2024-25 season. The final year is worth $69.1 million.
The Celtics drafted Brown from the University of California with the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He averaged a career-best 26.6 points per game last season, while leading the Celtics to the playoffs for the ninth straight year—the NBA’s longest current streak.
Brown currently serves as vice president of the National Basketball Players Association and has a growing fashion line, 7uice, off the court, but the two-time All-Star is focused on the avenue that pays his bills. “My day job is my day job and … I got to continue to progress, continuing to work,” Brown said last week at the Variety + Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit. “You slack for a second and somebody is coming behind you.”
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