How much prize money does the Oklahoma City Thunder get for winning the 2025 NBA Finals?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have just achieved the greatest triumph in franchise history since relocating from Seattle: they’re NBA champions at last after defeating the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

The Thunder’s fuzzy NBA championship past

This marks the team’s first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma and rebranding as the Thunder. Their only previous championship dates all the way back to 1979, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. Whether that historic title “belongs” to the Thunder is still up for debate among fans, but what’s clear now is that OKC finally has a championship to call its own.

Over the years, there have been glimpses of greatness—most notably the 2012 Finals run featuring a young Kevin Durant alongside Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka. That star-studded squad fell to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh’s Miami Heat, and what could’ve been a dynasty eventually unraveled: first Harden left, then Durant, and the dream faded into a tantalizing “what if.”

Now, a new generation has delivered. Led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder have brought championship glory to Oklahoma City—this time for real.

What prize money do the Thunder receive for being NBA champions?

Unlike in other sports leagues, the NBA doesn’t hand out a specific cash prize to the team that wins the Finals. The official reward is the iconic Larry O’Brien Trophy, which is worth about $13,500. But the real money comes from a league-wide playoff pool, distributed based on performance and negotiated terms with the NBA Players Association (NBPA).

For the 2024/25 season, that total playoff pool is expected to be around $35 million. Of that, the Thunder are projected to take home over $8.8 million for winning the championship alone. Add in bonuses from their regular season success and playoff progress, and the grand total climbs to roughly $12.4 million.

How much does each Thunder player get?

That payout is divided among players, coaches, and other team staff. For a standard 15-man playoff roster, each Thunder player stands to receive approximately $828,000—a nice bonus to top off the season.

How does NBA Finals prize money compare to the Super Bowl?

To put it in perspective, that’s more than double what NFL players earn for winning the Super Bowl, where each champion typically pockets around $357,000.

It may not be life-changing money by NBA standards, but for the Thunder and their fans, the legacy—and the long-awaited title—mean far more than any paycheck ever could.

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