The NBA tournament champion is still being decided, but we can already pinpoint the league's winners in another area: salary.

According to DraftExpress.com, the league's 20 highest-paid players all have contracts worth more than $15 million per year. To draw a quick comparison, according to the most recent data from the Labor Department's Occupational Employment Statistics, the average salary in the U.S. is $44,410 ($21.35/hour), meaning it would take the average person more than 558 years to earn the annual salary of the league's highest-paid player, Kobe Bryant.

Here's a countdown of the NBA's winning salaries:

20. Chris Paul

Team: New Orleans Hornets

Salary: $15,202,590

19. Deron Williams

Team: New Jersey Nets

Salary: $15,202,590

18. Dwight Howard

Team: Orlando Magic

Salary: $15,779,912

17. Elton Brand

Team: Philadelphia 76ers

Salary: $15,959,099

16. Joe Johnson

Team: Atlanta Hawks

Salary: $16,324,500

15. Amare Stoudemire

Team: New York Knicks

Salary: $16,486,611

14. Kenyon Martin

Team: Denver Nuggets

Salary: $16,545,454

13. Carmelo Anthony

Team: New York Knicks

Salary: $17,149,243

12. Dirk Nowitzki

Team: Dallas Mavericks

Salary: $17,278,618

11. Zach Randolph

Team: Memphis Grizzlies

Salary: $17,333,333

10. Vince Carter

Team: Phoenix Suns

Salary: $17,522,375

9. Yao Ming

Team: Houston Rockets

Salary: $17,686,100

8. Gilbert Arenas

Team: Orlando Magic

Salary: $17,730,694

7. Andrei Kirilenko

Team: Utah Jazz

Salary: $17,823,000

6. Pau Gasol

Team: Los Angeles Lakers

Salary: $17,823,000

5. Michael Redd

Team: Milwaukee Bucks

Salary: $18,300,000

4. Tim Duncan

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Salary: $18,700,000

3. Kevin Garnett

Team: Boston Celtics

Salary: $18,866,934

2. Rashard Lewis

Team: Washington Wizards

Salary: $19,573,711

1. Kobe Bryant

Team: Los Angeles Lakers

Salary: $24,806,250

Do you think these NBA players earn their salaries?Yes223 (6.3%)No2391 (67.6%)Depends on the player925 (26.1%)

  Tag: Engineering jobs| Healthcare jobs| IT jobs| legal jobs| oil & gas jobs| Oil jobs| Gas jobs| Property jobs| Construction jobs| Sales jobs| Accountant| Finance Manager| Finance Director| Electrical jobs| Mechanical jobs| Clinical Trial jobs| Recruitment jobs| Project Management jobs| Marketing Manager| Marketing Director| Logistic jobs| Sales Manager| sales director| resume| interview tips| recruitment agencies| recruitment agency| jobs| cover letter| salary|