Details On NBA’s Playoff Bonus Money For 2025/26

The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season is worth approximately $36MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico.

The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money is divvied up among the players on each club’s 15-man roster.

Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament aren’t entitled to any of the playoff bonus money, even if they had the seventh- or eighth-best regular season record in their conference.

The breakdown for 2026’s playoff pool money is as follows (rounded to the nearest thousand), per Sportico:

Regular season achievements:

• Best record in NBA (Thunder): $896K
• No. 1 seeds in each conference (Pistons, Thunder): $784K per team
• No. 2 seeds (Celtics, Spurs): $628K per team
• No. 3 seeds (Knicks, Nuggets): $471K per team
• No. 4 seeds (Cavaliers, Lakers): $384K per team
• No. 5 seeds (Raptors, Rockets): $297K per team
• No. 6 seeds (Hawks, Timberwolves): $210K per team

Postseason achievements:

• Teams participating in first round (all 16 playoff teams — the 12 listed above, plus the Sixers, Trail Blazers, and Friday’s play-in winners): $481K per team
• Teams participating in conference semifinals (eight teams): $586K per team
• Teams participating in conference finals (four teams): $980K per team
• Losing team in NBA Finals: $3,921,000
• Winning team in NBA Finals: $9,078,000

A team that makes a deep playoff run will cash in on more than one of the bonuses listed above.

For example, if the Thunder win the championship, their payout from the playoff pool would be worth more than $12.8MM in total — that amount would include their bonuses for posting the NBA’s best record, claiming the West’s No. 1 seed, making the first round, making the conference semifinals, making the conference finals, and winning the NBA Finals.

The total amount of the playoff bonus pool, which is based on a formula connected to basketball-related income (BRI), is up 3% from last season, according to Badenhausen and Akabas.