The 10 Most Overpaid NBA Players

Sports fans hold strong opinions about which pro basketball players deserve their massive salaries, and which ones don’t. One fan, however, has gone further than the average barstool commentator --- Southern Utah University economics professor David Berri. 

Berri is co-author of the 2006 book “The Wages of Wins,” which determines which players are overpaid with a statistical method called "Wins Produced" that he and his co-authors developed. 

According to Berri, NBA players are paid for high scoring, so the more points an athlete racks up, the more money he earns. Berri believes that this overlooks other factors that contribute to a victory, such as shots taken, turnovers, rebounds and fouls. 

These and other elements are included in the “Wins Produced” algorithm. 

“Wins in basketball are primarily about a team’s ability to get and keep possession of the ball and then turning those possessions into points,” Berri told CNBC.com in an e-mail. “In 2011-12, NBA teams paid $1.9 billion for 990 regular season wins. This means that the cost per win was $1.946 million. Given the cost of each win and knowing both how many victories each player produced and his salary allows us to see which players were overpaid.”

CNBC.com presents the list compiled by Berri and his team of the most overpaid players in the NBA, as determined by the “Wins Produced” algorithm. 

All salary information was provided by Berri, who used data from the NBA draft projection site DraftExpress.com and from basketball analyst Patricia Bender. All data was compiled by Berri’s colleague Arturo Galletti. 

10. Tyrus Thomas

Overpaid by: $12,459,225 
Salary: $7,305,785 
Value of Wins: -$5,153,440 

Team: Charlotte Bobcats 
Minutes Played: 1,013 
Wins Produced: -2.65 

9. Deron Williams

Overpaid by: $12,784,867 
Salary: $16,647,180 
Value of Wins: $3,862,313 

Team: New Jersey Nets 
Minutes Played: 1,995 
Wins Produced: 1.98 

8. Dirk Nowitzki

Overpaid by: $12,851,295 
Salary: $17,278,618 
Value of Wins: $4,427,323 

Team: Dallas Mavericks 
Minutes Played: 2,079 
Wins Produced: 2.27 

7. Corey Maggette

Overpaid by: $12,862,248 
Salary: $10,262,069 
Value of Wins: -$2,600,179 

Team: Charlotte Bobcats 
Minutes Played: 881 
Wins Produced: -1.34 

6. Mehmet Okur

Overpaid by: $12,988,657 
Salary: $10,890,000 
Value of Wins: -$2,098,657 

Team: New Jersey Nets 
Minutes Played: 453 
Wins Produced: -1.08  

5. Chris Kaman

Overpaid by: $14,613,480 
Salary: $12,200,000 
Value of Wins: -$2,413,480 

Team: New Orleans Hornets 
Minutes Played: 1,372 
Wins Produced: -1.24 

4. Amar’e Stoudemire

Overpaid by: $14,918,309 
Salary: $18,217,705 
Value of Wins: $3,299,396 

Team: New York Knicks 
Minutes Played: 1,543 
Wins Produced: 1.7 

3. Antawn Jamison

Overpaid by: $17,402,350 
Salary: $15,076,715 
Value of Wins: -$2,325,635 

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers 
Minutes Played: 2,151 
Wins Produced: -1.19

2. Kobe Bryant

Overpaid by: $19,693,258 
Salary: $25,244,493 
Value of Wins: $5,551,235 

Team: Los Angeles Lakers 
Minutes Played: 2,232 
Wins Produced: 2.85

1. Rashard Lewis

Overpaid by: $21,167,231 
Salary: $21,136,630 
Value of Wins: -$30,601 

Team: Washington Wizards 
Minutes Played: 729 
Wins Produced: -0.02