I don't think it's a terrible question. For instance, you would think that Andrew Gaze is rich. Brett Maher probably is? What about guys like Martin Cattalini etc.

So if you play 10+ years in the NBL, at a high level (top 20 player) would you better off than the average person after the same amount of time?

the top players of each team would be doing fairly well for themselves... gotta remember its half a years work too.. they can pursue other things for the rest of the year.. so I dont think 100 thou or 80 thou is bad at all to play some basketball.. too busy comparing it to NBA salaries.... these guys will eat atleast!

Its a fair question, Some players have their own business ect which can make them rich but playing salary alone would only make you rich if you invested it properly.
You guys above^ making fun of the question asker suck, yep you do.

RICH... no, but I am sure they can afford to own a house and do all the things we strive to do.

Good Imports were paid quite well in the boom times of the early 90's.
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By Australian terms at the time, yes. But the entire salary cap was around $450K or US$300K. Accounting for inflation that would only be about US$550K today.

So even with a bit of cheating and very low pay for a number of Aussie players there still wasnt huge money on offer for Americans.

Good on him. He has also put a lot into Australian Basketball. He would probably be the only Australian Basketballer that a fair slice of Ausies who dont follow the sport would know.

Hurls, half the year? They finish around March if they miss finals and often have to report by July for pre-season.

rich no, comfortable yes.

depends how smart they are with their money

When compared to other Australian sports, not the NBA, they earn much less on AVERAGE than players in the NRL, AFL or even the A-League.

Some of the players are not on top money their entire career, then there are those who's careers do not last very long

If you were to go around to the top name guys who are now retired after 10year plus careers in Australia to see how they are doing, comfortable would probably be their lifestyle, but I know a few who are working really hard for money post retirement and their names even surprise people to think they wouldnt be well off.

In the long run, the money they make does not set the up for life. There is not on Australian basketballer who could retire and just enjoy retirement, the all have to work in some way to survive, just like Andrew Gaze who has done fantastically with his opportunites and probably makes more now commentating than what he did as a player.

Are NBL players rich....the quality of the posts on here are on the up hey?

MW, got a few kids from Sydney posting stream of consciousness thoughts as they enter their heads.

They say, if your job is doing something you love it is more like a hobby, not a job!

On that note, I guess they are rich in the sense that playing hoops as a job is something only most of us can dream about, but the fact that almost all NBL players must retire and continue to work contradicts this somewhat...

Rich in $$$, maybe not so much, but rich in other ways, definately...

Antsey was on about $160K in his final year.