Account
Nets' Kyrie Irving Earns $525K in Contract Bonuses for 2020-21 Performance
May 17, 2021
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving played his way into a healthy bonus with the 2020-21 regular season now in the books.
ESPN's Bobby Marks noted Irving will receive $525,000 after triggering a few stat-based incentives in his contract:
Marks and Zach Lowe reported on the structure of Irving's four-year, $136.5 million contract with Brooklyn in July 2019. The deal included eight bonuses that started at $125,000 apiece in 2019-20 and get slightly higher over the next three seasons.
The seven-time All-Star shot 92.2 percent from the free-throw line and averaged 2.8 made three-pointers and 2.4 turnovers per game. Those numbers were good enough to fulfill the terms of the incentives. The Nets' league-best 117.3 offensive rating, per NBA.com, was above the necessary threshold as well.
The incentives Irving didn't hit were tied to his games played (at least 70), free-throw attempts (at least 4.6 per game), fouls committed (fewer than 2.1 per game) and Brooklyn's defensive rating (106.0 or lower).
Betting on yourself is a little easier when you're already guaranteed to earn $33.3 million. In Irving's case, he basically got the best of both worlds this season.
