The Boston Celtics Are Still Paying Kevin Garnett $5M Per Year In Retirement

The Boston Celtics Are Still Paying Kevin Garnett $5M Per Year In Retirement

The Boston Celtics are still paying for their last NBA Championship victory in 2008.

According to Steve Aschburner, Garnett’s deal with the Celtics in 2011 was set up to defer a portion of his salary until he was retired from the NBA. In fact, Boston has been paying Garnett $5 million per year since he retired from the league in 2016.

The deal, which paid Garnett a total of $35 million over seven years following his retirement, reportedly ends this year.

Why The Boston Celtics Are Still Paying Kevin Garnett in 2023-24

Few players were able to cash in on their superstardom like NBA legend Kevin Garnett.

Not only is Garnett the highest-earning NBA power forward ever, but he was also the first player to sign a $100 million deal. He signed a five-year, $128 million contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1999.

Garnett would go on to sign another five-year, $100 million extension in 2004 and a three-year, $51 million contract extension with the Celtics in 2009. As part of those deals, Garnett and his agent, Andy Miller, were able to negotiate that a portion of his salary would be deferred post-retirement.

When the Celtics traded for Garnett in the summer of 2007, they were on the hook for the first portion of that deferred salary. At the time, the former Timberwolves star was in the third year of his then five-year, $100-million extension.

The nuances of the deal came to light in 2012 when the NBA was facing a potential lockout.

When Will Garnett’s Salary Come Off The Celtics’ Books?

Despite retiring in 2016, Kevin Garnett is still cashing in on his NBA title run with the Boston Celtics. Garnett was acquired by Boston on July 31, 2007 and awarded him with a contract extension following the franchise’s first NBA Championship since 1986.

As part of his contract, Garnett deferred a portion of his salary to be paid out following his retirement from the NBA. In total, the NBA star opted to defer $35 million of his NBA earnings over seven years.

The payments from Boston started the following season in 2017 and will run through the 2024 NBA season.


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