Overseas Basketball Salaries – Earnings by Country

If you are like most aspiring professional basketball players you surely have been asking yourself, what are the average overseas basketball salaries?

We are here to answer that!

We dive into the average and maximum salaries of players on every continent. Since individual player salaries are not public information like they are in the NBA, it is quite difficult to get accurate information.

Not to worry, we did the research for you!

Europrobasket staff has scoured the internet, spoken with top agents, coaches and team representatives in various countries worldwide to get the most accurate information about the salaries players make playing professional basketball overseas.

Needless to say, this is the largest and most complete list available to date.

We have collected and sorted all the figures by continent and country in the table down below.

But first, let’s answer some of the frequent questions relating to overseas basketball salaries.

How Much do Overseas Basketball Players Make?

Most Americans signing a first professional contract in Europe earn $6,000 to $22,000 net for the season, with an apartment and meals provided on top. That range covers players with no prior professional experience coming out of NCAA Division II, Division III or NAIA. NCAA Division I players and Division II All-Americans can start higher.

Three things decide what that number is actually worth.

Overseas contracts are usually net. The club pays the tax, so what is written in the contract is close to what the player keeps. An NBA contract loses roughly half to tax. An overseas one generally does not.

The salary is rarely the whole package. Housing, flights, meals and insurance are normally provided on top of the figure. A first contract goes further than the same number would at home.

Experience creates the value. In Spain, a third-division contract pays around €600 to €1,600 a month. A second-division contract pays €2,000 to €8,000 a month, and the players earning that are almost never in their first season. Portugal’s second division pays €500 to €1,500 a month. What separates those tiers is a season of proven professional experience, not a different player.

This is also why the biggest available number is not always the best contract. It is possible to earn more in a first season outside Europe, in a league with weaker competition. But weaker competition is harder to move up from, and the next contract is decided by what the last one proved.

Since 2015, more than 400 players have signed their first professional contracts after training with EuroProBasket at L’Alqueria del Basket in Valencia, Spain. Getting the first one is the hard part.

These are reported ranges rather than published figures. Overseas contracts are private, and the numbers throughout this page come from agents, coaches and club staff rather than from league disclosures.

Each country can unfold a different answer to this question.

Our study confirms that there are two main factors to consider that will influence an overseas basketball player’s salary:

• The economic strength of a country
• The popularity of basketball as a sport in the playing country

Generally speaking, numerous countries in Europe offer on average anywhere between $60k to 500k per season to a player to play on the highest level league.

Certain countries in Asia such as Japan or South Korea offer a similar amount – between 120k to 400k USD a season, while China tops it all up with a generous average of 1m to 3m USD.

While the rest of the world is slightly more humble and pays out anywhere from 2k to 20k US Dollars.

As fantastic as it sounds, note that we talk about the highest level leagues.

So you may need to put some work in before you get a chance for this money!

For more detailed numbers, take a look at the overseas basketball salary table below.

Do Overseas Basketball Players Pay Taxes?

They say that only two things in life are guaranteed, death and taxes. The short answer to the question is NO, overseas basketball players players do not pay taxes on their income.

Before getting too deep into what kind of coin players make overseas we should note the main difference between an NBA contract and an overseas contract.

One of the big benefits of receiving an overseas basketball salary is that your team usually pays the taxes on your income.

You got it right! Your team pays the TAXES.

That means what is in the contract is what you get, unlike an NBA contract where you will lose roughly half due to taxes. 

Income of NBA players before and after taxes. Image from ESPN

With that being said the amount of time that you spend in the country you are playing will have an impact on where you should be paying your taxes.

As an American citizen, you are always required to file your taxes and all income regardless of where you live, in or out of the country.

If you live and play in certain countries for long periods of time, there is a good chance that you will have to file taxes in that country and show proof to the IRS.

Different countries have different tax agreements with the US so it is recommended that you speak with an international tax advisor to make sure you are handling your business.

Enough boring tax talk, lets get into the type of money you could be making playing professionally abroad!

Overseas Basketball Salaries by Country – Complete Table Chart

For a quick and easy reference, Europrobasket staff has put together a table that provides a detailed and comprehensive view of what players are getting paid to play overseas.

You’ll find the top professional leagues of every continent. The average salaries column shows what a more experienced player is getting paid to play in that respective league.

The max salaries are by no means the norm and may only account for one or two players in the league. It tells us how much teams are willing to spend to get the player they want.

You’ll see some values account for seasons and others per month. This is due to varying factors such as a shorter than normal season, a higher turnover rate or varying information on the various leagues. (k) is for thousands and (m) is for millions of US dollars.

Domestic Basketball Salaries

NBA and NBA G League Salaries image by EuroProBasket

United States of America – NBA and G League Salaries

The US leads the world in basketball salaries with the NBA lightyears ahead of the rest of the world.

The NBA includes 30 teams with a Salary Cap set at $109.14 million USD. That is a lot to split between 13 active players and the extra 2 two-way players on each roster.

The regular NBA season is 6 months and can go another 2 months for the NBA Playoffs and Finals with 82 games in the regular season.

United States of America – NBA G League Salaries

The only other fully professional league in the US is the NBA G League, previously called the D-League.

As the developmental league for the NBA each franchise has either their own or single-affiliated team.

The G League has come a long way in terms of how much they pay their players. In recent years salaries have increased greatly to entice more talented players to stay and develop under the guidance of the NBA franchises.

The average salary of a G League player is 35k per season but can be boosted significantly via Call-Ups, Two-Way contracts, Assignments and the new Professional Path.

Seasons are 5 months long and include housing and insurance benefits.

Let’s conclude it all with numbers:

• Average Base Salary – $35,000 USD per season or $7,000 USD per month
• Training Camp Bonus – $50,000 USD – When a player goes to training camp with an NBA team and then is assigned to the G League affiliate team.
• Select Contract or Professional Path – $125,000 USD which will be offered to elite players that are at least 18 years of age.
• Call Ups – Players on G League teams whose rights are not owned by the affiliate NBA team are allowed to be called up by any other NBA team.
• Two Way Contracts – $77,250 USD to $385,000 USD
• Bonuses – 225,000 in bonuses offered to players that had top performances or made it to the playoffs.

Both the NBA and G League cover some housing expenses, as well as some moving costs for players traded. They also pay a daily per diem for meals during trips as well as all hotel expenses.

All of the salaries are without US taxes taken out so you will need to take roughly 50% of the gross salary to get the net or take-home salary.

Contracts in the NBA G League have been getting better in the last few years but are still far from the NBA as well as the better-paid players in top overseas basketball leagues.

Let’s take a look at some of the best-paying countries and leagues on each continent.

ABA Basketball Salaries

ABA Basketball Salaries image by EuroProBasket

American Basketball Association or ABA basketball salaries range from $10,000 per season, $1500 – $250 per month, to players not getting paid anything. Many teams pay salaries per game which can be $50 – $250 per game. Other payment methods would include payments based on ticket sales, sponsorships and merchandise sales. Many teams are also known to cover living expenses as well as a few other perks which are all covered below.

Payment Structures in the ABA

American Basketball Association teams have many different payment structures. Most of which pay their players depending on talent like most professional leagues around the world. There are players that get paid the max salary with other players not receiving much if any pay. Below we cover the ABA basketball salary payment structures.

Monthly Salary – Monthly payments of $250 – $1500 were paid by 28 out of the 53 teams that were contacted for an economic study on ABA basketball salaries.

Stipend – A few teams offer one to three payments throughout the season which vary from $500 – $3,000. 6 teams out of the 53 in the study used this payment method.

Pay Per Game – Players are paid $50 – $400 per game played. 38 out of 53 teams were found to use this payment structure.

Sales Pay or No Pay – Players make a percentage from sales which can range from 5-50% depending on what is being sold. It was found that some players can make upto 50% of tickets sold while getting 5-10% on sponsorships and 10-20% on merchandise sales. 41 out of 53 teams in the study paid players in this way.

Housing – Expenses and other Perks

Some teams offer only room and board the study found. Others offer a combination of some form of payment above as well as room and board.

All teams offer a team insurance medical coverage with some teams offering individual coverage on top of the team coverage.

Many organizations offer gym memberships, dietician advice, career advisors, massages or chiropractor clinic visits. Not to mention connections with opportunities abroad.

Conclusion

With roughly 183 teams, the American Basketball Association offers players a great opportunity to continue playing the sport they love, while improving and possibly getting paid a little to do so.

Common ground is that team payment packages include multiple items above such as a combination of stipends, monthly payments and per game payments which coincide with the sales each player makes for the organization.

In the vast majority of ABA teams, the norm is to pay the top 5-6 players then have the remaining players be salespeople for the organization if they want to make money. Almost every team in the study used a combination of the above payment methods.

Players in the American Basketball Association can make $10,000 a season plus sales commissions, or make nothing, it just depends on their talent and/or willingness to market their team.

ABA Team Salary Budget – An average team budget was estimated by the study and was found to be on average $25,000 to $30,000 per year.

Wondering which of these leagues is realistic for you? That’s the first honest conversation we have with every player who joins the Euro Professional Program.

European Basketball Salaries

Europe is a place with the variety of possibilities for basketball players.

However, the popularity of the sport is not to the same extent in different countries. Therefore, euro basketball salaries vary depending on the place.

To put it all to a visualization, take a look at the graph below.

Image by EuroProBasket

Europe – Euroleague Salaries and Budgets

To really know what a team spends on their players’ salaries you need to dig into the team finances as most salaries and even team budgets are just rumors and unofficial information.

Budgets in the Euroleague vary greatly depending on many different factors. Various countries have different economic situations. Teams get their revenue from various sources:

• The government
• TV rights
• Sponsorships through private companies
• Endowments from a president or owner
• The number of ticket sales 

Due to basketball being one of the more popular sports in Europe and the fact that the Euroleague is the top tier competition on the continent, players in this league typically have the highest salaries.

Image by Europrobasket

Euroleague – Highest and Lowest Budgets

For the 2025-26 season, the highest verified EuroLeague club budget belongs to Bayern Munich at $56.1 million, of which $20.9 million is player salaries. That figure exists only because Germany’s easyCredit BBL requires its clubs to file budgets publicly. Ranked by payroll rather than total budget, the biggest spender is Panathinaikos, at an estimated $30.7-31.3 million in net player salaries.

The lowest filed budget in the competition is ASVEL Villeurbanne at $21.5 million, with only $5.3 million going to player and staff salaries. That is low enough to have cost the club money: in July 2026 ASVEL was fined $1.4 million for spending below the EuroLeague’s minimum player-salary floor of $6.77 million (€5,846,983).

The EuroLeague publishes its own league-wide average. Average Licensed Clubs Defined Revenue is $22.6 million for 2025-26, rising to $25.8 million for 2026-27. Above that sits a luxury-tax threshold of $11.6 million in net player salaries, which 11 of the 20 clubs are projected to exceed.

For an import player, the spread between clubs matters more than the headline budgets. At the lowest-spending clubs the top earners make around $520,000, while starters at contending clubs sit between $1.2 million and $2.9 million. The top of the market in 2025-26 was Vasilije Micic at Hapoel Tel Aviv, on a reported $5.6 million net, with nine of the top ten earners above $3 million for the first time. The league rostered 124 former NBA players across its 20 teams.

A caution on reading these numbers: filed club budgets are gross, while the payroll estimates are net of tax, and the two are not interchangeable. Bayern has the highest total budget in the competition and only the 15th-highest payroll. Euro figures are converted at €1 = $1.16; the underlying club filings and league thresholds are set in euros.

Import players will be receiving all of their basketball salaries as the teams take care of paying the income taxes. Although, the player may have to pay taxes in their country of permanent residence.

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Highest Paid Basketball Players in Europe

There are some very well paid players in Europe currently but none other than Nikola Mirotic which is reportedly making around $4,000,000 US dollars making him the highest paid basketball player in Europe.

Some reports mention that Nikola Mirotic is getting paid $5,400,000 to $4,400,000 per season, but as per Eurohoops.com, a more realistic number with taxes included is in the $3.8 million to $4 million range.

Nikola Mirotic is playing for FC Barcelona which competes both in the Euroleague and the Spanish Liga Acb or Liga Endesa.

Shane Larkin’s paycheck is also worth mentioning and puts him in the top of highest paid basketball players in Europe with a annual pay of $3,700,000 US dollars.

The highest paid basketball player of all-time in Europe would have been Josh Childress when he signed a $20 million US dollar deal for three years with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in 2008.

Spain – Pro Basketball Salaries. Spanish Liga Endesa (ACB)

Liga ACB. Image by acb.com

The Spanish Liga Acb is considered the highest level competition in terms of domestic leagues. Both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have budgets over $40 million USD. The salaries in the Acb are some of the highest, taking away the Euroleague teams.

Typically more than half of the acb teams are in one of the European competitions, with 4 teams in the Euroleague. Many teams have one or more former NBA players on their rosters.

Average import salaries in the Spanish basketball league are well into the 6 figure range with many players making $250k to 500k USD per season. You will find other players such as Sergio Llull, Walter Tavares and Corry Higgins making roughly $2 million USD per season.

Turkey – Turkish Basketball Super League Salaries (BSL)

Shane Larkin. Image via Solobasket.com

The Turkish BSL is considered a European league, even though most of the country is geographically located in the Middle East.

Team budgets for nearly half of the clubs are over $10 million USD.

Teams in the Turkish basketball league boast NBA talents such as Shane Larkin, former 1st round 18th overall pick. Currently playing for Anadolu Efes, Shane pulls in a whopping $3.7 million USD via sources.

Other players such as Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely, make a cool $2.4 million and 2.2 million USD respectively. Although they have some very attractive max salaries in the Turkish BSL, the average import player is making $250k-500k USD for the year.

Russia – Russian United League Basketball Salaries (VTB)

Alexey Shved. Image via Fullbasket.es

Some of the highest paid players are competing in the Russian VTB United League. Teams such as CSKA Moscow have $40+ million budgets with others around $30 million USD.

With those bank accounts, salaries are on par with the likes of many NBA players.

With 13 teams in the VTB, you’ll see many elite players in the league making solid incomes.

Although the max salaries for Russian VTB United League teams are enticing the average salaries are very interesting as well with players making $200k-450k USD for the season. Now there’s motivation to deal with a Siberian winter.

Italy – Italian Lega Basket Serie A Salaries (Serie A)

Sergio Rodriguez. Image via Euroleague Basketball

It’s no surprise that Italy is in the top ranks of basketball overseas. With their elite players in the NBA and many Italian teams in European competitions, Italian clubs offer some very inviting salaries.

Average Italian Serie A salaries for imports can be found in the $180k-350k USD range. Add some inexpensive wine and beaches on the Mediterranean Sea and you have a dream job for any player.

Germany – German Basketball Bundesliga Salaries (easycredit BBL)

Greg Monroe. Image via Euroleague Basketball

With Germany being ranked as the 4th strongest economy in the world, it’s clear why their basketball clubs pay their players well.

The average salary an import player in the German BBL makes is between $100k-350k USD for the season.

Figures from EuroProBasket’s contacts inside German basketball, September 2026: a typical import earns $115,000 to $405,000 net for the season, an established high-level import $350,000 to $580,000, and the small group of EuroLeague-calibre or former NBA players reaches $1.16 million. Those are net figures — the club pays the income tax — so they are worth considerably more than the same numbers quoted gross.

The women’s game in Germany pays well below Spain, Turkey and Italy. An import in the women’s Bundesliga is normally on $17,000 to $40,000 net for the season, with the top of the market at $46,000 to $58,000. Germany also has no minimum salary for basketball players at all — there is no collective agreement in either the men’s or the women’s league, so a player’s only floor is whatever the contract says. German figures come from EuroProBasket’s contacts inside the German game, September 2026; euro amounts converted at €1 = $1.16.

The German BBL is host to some top teams competing in multiple European competitions and the level shows in their domestic league. With that salary, you’ll surely be enjoying your bratwurst. Just don’t get carried away with Octoberfest as you still need to play games on the weekends.

Greece – Greek A1 Basketball League Salaries (Greek A1)

Nick Calathes. Image via Euroleague Basketball

Greece has had its issues with their economy which plays a major role in their basketball finances. Even though this can be considered a rough patch for Greek A1 basketball, they still have some of the highest paid players outside of the NBA.

With Olympiacos included, 3 teams have budgets over 10 million USD with the top two over $15 million USD.

Greek basketball average salaries are in the range of $60k-250k USD for import players while top players are well into the millions.

Greek basketball seems it will always have its place in the top ranks. The fact that they have nearly 6,000 picturesque Mediterranean islands for you to go island hopping on your downtime should sweeten the deal.

Israel – Israeli Basketball Premier League Salaries (Winner League)

Scottie Wilbekin. Image via Euroleague Basketball

Infamous in Europe for their great results in European competitions the Israeli Basketball Premier League, also known as the Winner League, has its place in the elite ranks for European salaries.

Israeli basketball has been recognized as having some of the top talents in Europe. Host to 12 teams, the top teams in the Winner League play and excel in European competitions.

Average salaries for import players can be found in the $80k-250k USD range with elite players such as Scottie Wilbekin earning a comfortable $1.7 million USD.

With only really one team able to pay that salary it is not the norm, but six-figure incomes are commonplace in the Israeli basketball league. The salary will surely get your interest but don’t miss a chance to check out one of the oldest civilizations on the globe.

France – Betclic Élite Basketball Salaries (LNB Élite)

AJ Slaughter. Image via Joël PHILIPPON

Last on our list but certainly should not be considered least is the French Basketball LNB Pro A, or for short French Pro A. With only two teams in the $10 million USD budget ranks, it’s clear why the LNB Pro A is towards the bottom of the list.

With that being said there are many benefits to the league as it is considered one of the most financially secure places to play basketball professionally overseas. It is one of the only countries to offer unemployment to players without a team. Imports included!

Contracts are also guaranteed by the French government. Possibly another reason only roughly 30% of the team’s budget goes towards salaries when most other teams throughout Europe spend in the 50-65% range.

Needless to say players in the French basketball league Pro A make a nice salary for playing basketball. An average import player can make between $80k-200k USD for a season.

France’s women’s top division pays between $23,000 and $230,000 for a season — a spread wide enough that the top and the bottom of the same league are effectively different jobs. France is also one of the very few countries with a negotiated floor for women: the sectoral agreement in force since July 2024 is reported at $26,400 gross (€22,800) for the first division, which is materially higher than Spain’s $18,500 (€16,000). French figures come from EuroProBasket’s network contacts in France, September 2026; euro amounts converted at €1 = $1.16.

Poland – Orlen Basket Liga Basketball Salaries (PLK)

Poland is one of the more realistic European markets for an American, and the spread inside it is wide. At the top of the Orlen Basket Liga a marquee import signs for around $290,000 for the season. The bulk of the league’s imports earn $80,000 to $140,000, and the back end of a roster runs down to about $46,000.

The second division is where a first contract usually starts. An American currently playing in Poland’s second tier is on $58,000, after earning $29,000 to $35,000 at a different second-division club the season before. That jump is one of the clearest illustrations anywhere of what a second season is worth once a player has proved himself in a market.

Polish clubs normally cover the apartment, and most have arrangements with companies delivering food boxes, so housing and meals generally sit on top of the salary rather than inside it.

Poland also inverts the pattern most players expect: Polish players are paid more than imports, not less, because the pool of eligible domestic players is small and clubs compete for them. It shows up inside a single club’s roster. At one Polish club in 2018-19, a Polish international was on $185,000 for the season while two imports on the same roster were on $104,000 and $80,000. The same club had paid an American $250,000 net in 2014-15, over ten monthly instalments — the top of the Polish market has not moved much in a decade.

The roster rules matter as much as the money. Poland’s top men’s division allows six foreign players in the game roster. A club may sign more than six, but every additional licence costs progressively more. The second division allows only two foreigners in the game roster, which is why dropping a level in Poland is not the easier route it looks like. In the women’s league a club may hold four imports and play a maximum of three at once.

Women’s salaries in Poland top out at roughly $58,000 to $70,000, and both the standard of the league and the money in it have fallen over the past ten years.

Current Polish figures come from EuroProBasket’s network contacts inside the Polish league, September 2026. Figures supplied in euros are converted at €1 = $1.16, the European Central Bank rate for 2 September 2026.

Australia – Australian National Basketball League Salaries (NBL)

Lamelo Ball. Image via NBL Australia

Similar to most leagues outside the USA, team budgets and player salaries are not public information in the Australian NBL.

The Australian NBL Soft Salary Cap is set at roughly $1.03 million USD. This means that all players’ salaries combined should add up to this amount. Teams will receive a tax for any values above the salary cap which will be shared among the other teams in the league.

Judging from the Salary Cap and various sources, you can expect the average salary of an import player in the Australian NBL to be between $120,000 to $250,000 USD.

One of the maximum salaries that have been speculated was that of Andrew Bogut which reportedly received a two-year $1 million AUD contract which equates to roughly $363k USD per season. He likely was paid more than what is reported.

There has also been reports about Bryce Cotton’s salary being in the $440,000 US dollar, $600,000 AUD range, but since official figures are not known, they are just rumors.

Since there is a Soft Salary Cap there are teams likely spending much more than the average on their imports or “marquee” players. So the actual max player salaries are likely much higher than what has been reported.

Asian Basketball League Salaries by Country

Graph by Europrobasket.com

China – Chinese Basketball Association Salaries (CBA)

Stephon Marbury. Image via cba

Widely regarded as one of the highest paying leagues in the world, the Chinese Basketball Association or CBA is a magnet for elite talent. Players in the league have made small fortunes with 500+ million fans watching them.

Stephon Marbury, after six seasons, 3 titles and roughly $12 million USD, is a great example of success as an import player in China. With an NBA career winding down, Stephon decided to take his talents abroad to China.

He now has a statue in front of his former team’s stadium and a shoe company, selling affordable basketball shoes to kids that cannot afford the name brand counterparts.

As per CBA regulations two import players are allowed on each team. The high salaries and short seasons create a hotbed for Veteran NBA Elite such as Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Steve Francis and Metta World Peace.

Average salaries for an import player in the CBA are in the neighborhood of $1 million to $3 million USD. The highest-paid player to this date is reportedly Lance Stephenson which is said to rake in a staggering $4 million USD with the Chinese team Liaoning Flying Leopards.

With 19 teams in the Chinese Basketball League and an increasingly larger basketball following than any other country in the world, it is clear that Chinese basketball is a force to be reckoned with.

South Korea – Korean Basketball League Salaries (KBL)

Image via Korean Basketball League

Rightly so, the Korean Basketball League or KBL is high in the ranks as one of the highest paying leagues in the world. The Korean League rules allow two import players per KBL team.

There is a $700k USD salary cap per team for two imports while the limit is $500k USD for teams with one. You can say the average salary for an import player in the Korean Basketball League is between $250k-400k USD with a max of $500k USD.

Those are official numbers. We’ve heard many rumors from numerous sources that players receive bonuses which can also reach into the six figures. That can put the max salary at over $800k USD per year.

Where do I sign up you ask?

Just know it is not like you just show up to a game, drop 30 and collect a paycheck. Teams in the KBL are known to practice 3-4 times per day. Better make sure you show up in shape if you are offered the opportunity to play in this league.

Japan – Japanese B League Salaries

Image via B League

The Japan Professional Basketball League, or for short Japan B League has made big improvements to it’s competition. A merger in 2016 between two Japanese leagues brought on by Fiba mandates, has turned the newer league into a profitable and growing business.

Which in turn improves the B League player’s salaries.

Currently, the highest-paid Japanese player, Yuki Togash, is making just a hair under $1 million USD. This brings us to the import players which like most leagues have a different bracket. You can expect to see higher level import players in Japan making $1 million USD or more for a season.

An average import salary in the Japanese B1 would be more in the radius of $120k-300k USD per season. Living expenses are expensive in Japan, but players don’t need to worry about that as teams usually cover those expenses.

Women’s Overseas Basketball Salaries

A professional women’s import in Europe earns roughly $17,000 to $70,000 for a season in most markets, rising to about $93,000 at Italy’s leading Serie A1 clubs, with France the outlier at up to $230,000. The same leagues pay male imports $80,000 to $500,000, so the gap is wide — and it is widest in Germany, which has no minimum salary for basketball players at all.

Almost nobody publishes these numbers. Germany reports its men’s club payrolls to the euro and nothing for the women’s league; France publishes men’s club accounts every year and nothing for the LFB. That asymmetry is the reason this question is so hard to answer anywhere else. The figures below come from EuroProBasket’s network contacts inside those leagues in September 2026, and from the one country that writes its minimum into law. They are the same contacts behind our women’s professional program in Valencia.

Women’s basketball salaries by country

Country	League	Season salary U$D	Legal minimum
France	La Boulangère Wonderligue	$23,000 – $230,000	$26,400 gross (reported)
Germany	Toyota 1. DBBL	$17,000 – $40,000 net typical · $46,000 – $58,000 top	None
Poland	Energa Basket Liga Kobiet	up to $58,000 – $70,000	—
Spain	Liga Femenina Endesa	not published	$18,500 (€16,000), in law

France pays the most — and has the only floor above Spain’s

The first sectoral agreement for women’s professional basketball in France took effect on 1 July 2024, after negotiations that began in 2017. It is reported to set a floor of $26,400 gross (€22,800) for the top division and $25,300 (€21,850) for LF2, and to guarantee 12 months of maternity pay at 100%. That floor is roughly 43% higher than Spain’s. The signed accord itself has never been published, so treat the figures as reported rather than official.

Spain writes its minimum into law

Spain is the only country here where the women’s minimum is a legal instrument. Article 21 of the collective agreement, published in the state gazette on 8 May 2024, sets $18,500 (€16,000) gross for a season in Liga Femenina Endesa. The same article bans part-time contracts, and Article 22 excludes housing from the minimum — so a player receives the floor plus accommodation. The agreement auto-extends each season with inflation indexation, so the real floor is now higher than the published figure, though no updated number has ever been released. What Spain does not publish is what imports actually earn above it.

Germany has no wage floor of any kind

There is no collective agreement for basketball players in Germany, in either the men’s or the women’s league, and the players’ initiative is not recognised as a negotiating partner. A women’s import in Germany has no minimum — only whatever her contract says. In practice imports there are on $17,000 to $40,000 net for the season, with the top of the market at $46,000 to $58,000. Those are net figures: the club pays the income tax.

Italy — what Serie A1, Serie A2 and Serie B actually pay

Italy runs three levels of women’s basketball, and the distance between them is wider than in any other market on this page. Serie A1 is 12 clubs, Serie A2 is 22, and Serie B is roughly 80 regional clubs. What an import is paid depends less on the division on its own than on where her club sits inside it — a bottom-half Serie A1 club and a leading Serie A2 club are close to the same money.

Division	Clubs	Leading clubs	Mid-table	Bottom clubs
Serie A1 (national)	12	$46,400 – $92,800	$17,400 – $46,400	$9,300 – $17,400
Serie A2 (national)	22	$11,600 – $23,200	$8,100 – $11,600	$4,600 – $8,100
Serie B (regional)	~80	$5,800 – $8,100	$1,700 – $5,800	$580 – $1,700

All figures are 2025-26, net to the player, and for import signings. Converted from euro at €1 = $1.16 — Serie A1’s leading clubs pay €40,000 to €80,000 a season. Serie A1 contracts are paid in ten monthly instalments, Serie A2 and Serie B in nine, so a €20,000 Serie A2 deal is about €2,220 a month for nine months rather than €1,667 spread across the year. No minimum salary is published for any of the three women’s divisions.

Two numbers show how steep the drop is: Serie A2’s ceiling is a quarter of Serie A1’s, and Serie B’s ceiling is less than a tenth. Only Serie A1 pays at a level comparable with the rest of this page — its leading clubs sit second only to France, and its mid-table band sits alongside a good German contract — and both markets quote net, so those two are directly comparable. Serie B is not a full-time professional wage at any level of the division.

How many import spots each women’s league allows

Money is only half the question. Roster rules decide whether an import can be signed at all.

• Spain, Liga Femenina Endesa — maximum 2 non-EU players on a roster of 8 to 12. A non-EU licence costs the club about €1,800 against €92 for an EU player.
• Germany, Toyota 1. DBBL — maximum 3 non-EU per game, with the German-player floor rising to 6 of 12 by 2026-27.
• Poland — 4 imports on the roster, maximum 3 on court at the same time.
• Portugal — 3 foreign players, of whom a maximum of 2 non-EU.
• Israel — 2 foreign plus 2 Bosman, with a minimum of 2 Israelis on court.

Poland is the clearest warning in that list. The standard of its women’s league and the money in it have both fallen over the past ten years, and the ceiling now sits at roughly $70,000. A country can allow four imports and still not be where you want to sign.

Does the new WNBA contract change the case for playing in Europe?

For years the reason to play overseas was simple: Europe paid more than the WNBA did. At the top of the game that is no longer true. Under the collective bargaining agreement finalised in March 2026, the WNBA minimum salary rose to $270,000 from $66,079 the season before, the supermax went from $249,244 to $1.4 million, and each team’s salary cap moved from $1.5 million to $7 million.

The effect has run in both directions. Thirty-two European players from 15 countries appeared in the WNBA in 2026 — 14.8% of all player appearances, the highest share in the league’s history, against a low of 2% in 2013. At the same time, prioritization rules mean that from 2027 a player with three or more WNBA seasons must report by 15 April or face a season-long suspension, which cuts straight across the end of most European seasons.

For an American player the read is straightforward. If you are good enough for a WNBA roster, the WNBA now pays better than a European club will. If you are not — and that is most players leaving college — Europe is still where a professional career starts, and it is currently a market with fewer established WNBA names competing for the same contracts. The figures in the table above are what European clubs are actually paying.

About The Data

And here you have it. A collection of overseas basketball salaries in each continent.

Note, that there is a little something to keep in mind when you study this data.

The salaries also only take into account import players and the higher paid players in the various leagues and competitions. In each league mentioned starting salaries would be much lower as well as for teams with smaller budgets which are typically in the lower range of the rankings. 

When the term “Overseas Basketball” is used, it is such a broad use of the phase as “Overseas” to an American player could mean anything outside of their country. To a European player it would signify playing on another continent. Here we use the term regarding the professional leagues outside of the USA.

Season Length for Overseas Teams

You should also take note that the length of a season depends on the league and country the competition is in. China has a short season with just 5 months so a player playing in that country is getting paid more for less practices and games than say a European league player which can be playing upto 9 months. Some leagues in Latin America and Asia are just a few months in length such as Puerto Rico’s BSN, leagues in the Dominican Republic as well as the Philippines. That’s one of the reasons why people talk about salaries in terms of months whereas in other countries they speak in terms of seasons.

Import Players vs Domestic Players

Unlike the NBA and G League, basketball leagues overseas have restrictions on the amount of import players allowed on each team. The import player definition varies depending on the league under discussion but it typically means a player with a passport outside of the country. An example is an American playing in China or Europe. Import players are typically paid more than domestic or local players, with the exception of the top handful domestic players for each league. Leagues that allow multiple import players, more than two, typically spread their salary budget out more evenly which result in a little lower salary. Leagues that only allow one or two import players per team will typically pay that player a higher salary.

How to Play Basketball Overseas?

Image via Europrobasket

We’re currently working on another article just on this subject. If you are currently struggling to get opportunities overseas take a look at our professional placement programs which have been very successful at helping players get their starts playing professionally in Europe, with hundreds of players placed on teams so far.

In the meantime, teams are looking for these things:

• Experience (Professional or University)
• Stats (Recent from competitive leagues)
• Film (Two full games and a highlight, from this season or last, on youtube or other video platform online)
• Resume, CV or Player Bio (With all of your information, stats and video links)

A special thanks to everyone who collaborated with us to compile all of this information. We’ll keep updating it to make sure you all have the most accurate information to make the right decisions on your future.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or information you believe is helpful to add.

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