There was a short period during the 2010s when many analysts and fans thought that the center position was "dead."
The emergence of dynamic guards and forwards who could take over the game like big men used to and teams winning championships without a true center helped with the claims.
In recent years, the trend has reversed, with centers taking up the last three NBA Most Valuable Player awards and the exploitation of teams with a lack of size in the postseason.
With the center position back to relevance, the best of the best comes at a price. With that being said, who are the highest-paid centers in the NBA for the 2023-24 season?
1. Bam Adebayo - Miami Heat: $32,600,060
Adebayo has been a consistent inside presence for the Miami Heat, helping the team make the NBA Finals in two of the last four seasons.
The Heat rewarded the 26-year-old in 2020 with a five-year, $163 million extension that will last until the 2025-26 NBA season.
2. Karl-Anthony Towns - Minnesota Timberwolves: $36,016,200
Towns is acclaimed as one of the best shooting big men ever, and he is the tallest player ever to win the Three-Point Contest during the 2022 edition since Dirk Nowitzki in 2006.
The first overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft will be entering the final year of his current deal, but he already signed a new $224 million supermax extension that will put him higher on this list next season.
3. Anthony Davis - Los Angeles Lakers: $40,600,080
While Davis is a power forward on paper, the Lakers big man has spent the last few years playing the five for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Named in the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021, the 30-year-old signed the richest extension in NBA history last month.
4. Rudy Gobert - Minnesota Timberwolves: $41,000,000
Gobert is one of the most dominant rim protectors in league history, claiming three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
The Frenchman made the NBA All-Defensive First Team for six straight seasons from 2017 to 2022.
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Tied-1. Joel Embiid - Philadelphia 76ers: $47,607,350
The Philadelphia 76ers center is the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, having won the award last season with solid performances throughout the year.
In addition, he also led the league in scoring for the second year in a row in 2022-23.
The last few years have been a dominant run for the 29-year-old, as he also finished second in MVP voting in 2021 and 2022, establishing himself as one of the premier players in the NBA.
Tied-1. Nikola Jokic - Denver Nuggets: $47,607,350
The Serbian big man is the joint-highest-paid center in the NBA for the upcoming season, and we all know why.
Jokic recently led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA championship, capping off a dominant playoff run that saw him break several postseason records and cement his place among the greatest centers of all time.
Jokic signed a five-year, $264 million contract extension with the Nuggets in 2022, the largest contract in NBA history at its signing.
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