NBA Playoff Bonuses: Warriors, Cavs In Line For Payday

The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be fixated on winning a championship as the 2016 NBA Finals get underway Thursday night at the Oracle Arena (NYSE:ORCL) in Oakland, California. But players on both teams are also in for a sizable check, thanks to the NBA’s performance-based playoff bonus pool.

The NBA will award a total of $15 million to the league’s top teams this year, officials told FOXBusiness.com. This year’s Playoff pool is the largest in league history, surpassing last year’s tally of $14 million.

The winning team in this year’s NBA Finals will earn $2,656,422, to be split amongst its players, coaches and staff members. The losing team gets a consolation prize of $1,760,210 – probably not enough to cure the sting of falling short, but a solid payday nonetheless.

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Even if they lose to the Cavaliers, the Warriors have already secured a sizable chunk of the league’s playoff bonus money. Golden State has already locked up more than $1.7 million, thanks to its league-best 73-9 record ($432,632), conference-best record, and appearances in all three preliminary rounds of the NBA playoffs. A win against Cleveland wouldn’t just give Stephen Curry and his teammates their second consecutive NBA championship – it would push the team’s total postseason earnings above $4 million.