The NBA Finals came to an end on Thursday with The Golden State Warriors defeating the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Stephen Curry, the Finals MVP (34 points seven assists as well as seven-rebounds) displayed a stunning performance, as he was able to lead the Warriors to a victory of 103-90. The series finished 4-2 to the Warriors. Check Prize Money Distribution of NBA Final 2022.
2022’s season for the National Basketball Association (NBA) ended on the day of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. Let’s take a look at the winner of this year and the prize cash.
NBA 2021-22 Championships Prize Money
As per reports, the prize money of the 2022 NBA Championships winners is a total of USD 27.5 million. Let’s take a look at the breakdown of prize money for this year’s NBA Championships.
NBA 2022 Championships prize money breakdown
Each participant received a generous bonus, even if they didn’t win. It is believed that the “players’ pool” is divided among the 16 teams in the final. It is the responsibility of the league to split the prize pool among the winning teams. In the last year, the prize pool was about $22 million, which was confirmed by CNBC through the NBA official.
The winner of NBA 2021 is LA Lakers after beating Miami Heat by 106-93. SB Nation offers data on which you can draw rough estimates of what each team earns. The 2018 team that was the most successful earned $3.3 million. If you add the annual inflation of 10%, the winning team this year took home $3.6 million. This is equivalent to $240,000 for an ensemble comprising 15 members.
In hindsight, it’s not an amount of cash for players like Stephen Curry or Kwahi Leonard who are signed to contracts that amount to up to $30 million per season. This isn’t even the equivalent of a week’s wages for these players. However, it’s a great small amount for those who are on the pay scale, particularly those who earn the minimum league salary of $2 million per year.
| Stage | Prize Money in USD |
| Participants in the Playoffs 1st Round (each) | $328,333 |
| Semi-finalists in the conference (each) | $390,675 |
| Finalists from the Conference (each) | $645,587 |
| Runners-up | $2,581,642 |
| Champions | $3,896,000 |
NBA 2022 Championships Other Winners
- The 2022 NBA season came with other awards too. Let’s look at additional award recipients.
- Finals MVP: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Rookie of the Year 2022: Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors)
- Defensive Player of the Year 2022: Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics)
- Most Improved Player of the year 2022: Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Hustle Award: Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics)
- NBA Sportsmanship Award of the year 2022: Patty Mills (Brooklyn Nets)
- Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award: Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Community Assist Award in 2022: Gary Paton II (Golden State Warriors)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award of the year 2022: Reggie Bullock (Dallas Mavericks)