What does your contract really pay?

Usually somewhere between about 40% and 60% of the headline number, before any spending. The biggest factors are the 37% top federal rate, where your team plays, where you legally live, the jock tax on road games, and the percentage fees (agent, business manager, advisor) that come off the gross.

Most states with an income tax charge visiting athletes tax on the pay they earn while working in that state. It is usually figured by duty days: the days you are in that state for games, practice, and team travel, divided by all the duty days in your season. That is why players file returns in many states each year.

For team salary, no. Pro players are W-2 employees, and since 2018 employees cannot deduct job expenses like agent fees on their federal return. Agent and marketing fees on endorsement income paid to you as a business (1099) are usually deductible as business expenses.

Yes, on the part of your pay that is not earned in other states. You still pay the team's state on home games if your team is in a tax state, and road states on road games. But your home state adds nothing on top, and signing bonuses in many cases are taxed only by your home state.

The NBA holds back 10% of each paycheck so that total player pay matches the players' agreed share of league revenue. After the season some or all of it is returned. For 2025-26, reporting shows players effectively lost about 5.5% of salary. We show escrow separately because it is not a tax.