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Australian NBA players have collectively amassed more than a billion USD in career earnings, basketball.com.au revealed earlier this month.

And it’s "just the beginning", Australia's first NBA player Luc Longley told CODE Sports Basketball.

“I’m stunned first of all that it (Aussie NBA wages) has reached that number, but my response is that is reflective of how far the sport has come in Australia,” Longley said.

“The number of kids now playing basketball and coaches who are doing a good job to make the NBL and WNBL aspirational and drawing kids through the system."

Longley broke new ground in 1991 as the original player from Down Under to start on an NBA roster. Longley made his debut with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a four-year rookie contract worth A$9.6 million. Longley earned USD $42.7M in his 10-year NBA career.

Flash forward 34 years and there are 14 Australians suiting up in the 2025-26 NBA season, and their salaries are skyrocketing.

Chicago guard Josh Giddey and Atlanta’s reigning Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels both signed identical four-year, $153 million deals in the weeks leading up to the season. By the time Giddey’s deal is complete he will have earned $195 million during his career, while Daniels will be sitting on $192 million.

Ben Simmons is without a team this season but remains our biggest earner, having accumulated $203 million.

Since Longley blazed a historic trail in ’91 more than 40 Aussies have featured on the world’s leading hoops stage. It’s a remarkable statistic that blows Longley away given how hard it originally was for international players to reach the NBA in ’91, let alone have a major impact like today.

For the full story on CODE Sports, click here.