NBA Playoff Teams to Split Roughly $36 Million in 2025-26 Bonus Pool
nba-playoff-bonus-money-2025-26
The NBA will distribute about $36 million in postseason bonus money during the 2025-26 campaign, according to figures obtained by Sportico.
The fund, which rises 3% from last season under the league’s basketball-related income formula, rewards regular-season performance for the top six teams in each conference and postseason progress for all 16 playoff clubs. Payments are shared among players on each team’s 15-man roster.
Regular-season bonuses
• Best overall record: Thunder – $896,000
• No. 1 seeds: Pistons, Thunder – $784,000 each
• No. 2 seeds: Celtics, Spurs – $628,000 each
• No. 3 seeds: Knicks, Nuggets – $471,000 each
• No. 4 seeds: Cavaliers, Lakers – $384,000 each
• No. 5 seeds: Raptors, Rockets – $297,000 each
• No. 6 seeds: Hawks, Timberwolves – $210,000 each
Postseason bonuses
• First round participants: $481,000 per team
• Conference semifinals: $586,000 per team
• Conference finals: $980,000 per team
• NBA Finals runner-up: $3,921,000
• NBA champion: $9,078,000
Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament do not qualify for any portion of the bonus pool, even if they finished seventh or eighth in their conference.
A club that sweeps the awards can collect eight-figure earnings. Should the Thunder capture the title, for example, their combined regular-season and playoff shares would exceed $12.8 million.
Source: Hoops Rumors
