paragraph_text: If a tree grows all its life in the open and the conditions of soil and site remain unchanged, it will make its most rapid growth in youth, and gradually decline. The annual rings of growth are for many years quite wide, but later they become narrower and narrower. Since each succeeding ring is laid down on the outside of the wood previously formed, it follows that unless a tree materially increases its production of wood from year to year, the rings must necessarily become thinner as the trunk gets wider. As a tree reaches maturity its crown becomes more open and the annual wood production is lessened, thereby reducing still more the width of the growth rings. In the case of forest-grown trees so much depends upon the competition of the trees in their struggle for light and nourishment that periods of rapid and slow growth may alternate. Some trees, such as southern oaks, maintain the same width of ring for hundreds of years. Upon the whole, however, as a tree gets larger in diameter the width of the growth rings decreases.

paragraph_text: Xavi helped Barcelona win the 2009 Champions League final 2–0 against Manchester United, assisting the second goal by crossing to Messi for his header. Prior to the match, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson heaped praise on the central midfield combination of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, stating, "I don't think Xavi and Iniesta have ever given the ball away in their lives. They get you on that carousel and they can leave you dizzy." Xavi was voted "UEFA Champions League best midfielder" for his contribution during Barcelona's victorious 2008–09 Champions League campaign.Xavi was the highest assisting player in La Liga with 20, and in the Champions League, with 7; he earned 29 assists overall that season. Xavi was under contract to Barça until 2014 after extending his contract during the 2008–09 season. The new contract made him one of the club's biggest earners, with a salary of €7.5 million a year.

paragraph_text: The final playoff round, a best - of - seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals, and is held annually in June. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor -- including coaches and the general manager -- on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series.

paragraph_text: Ricochet Lost Worlds was developed by Reflexive Entertainment and is the sequel to "Ricochet Xtreme". It features several new bricks, power-ups and background art. It also has the new "ring" feature, where you try to collect all the rings on each level. If you collect all five rings on every level, you become "Ring Master" and get the trophy at the end of the game. It is possible to beat the game without getting every ring, but it is less challenging.

paragraph_text: The highest - paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty - million - dollar range. In this twelve - year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003 -- 04 season. Garnett has been the highest - paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997 -- 98 season, Jordan earned $33,140,000, which still stands as the most any NBA player has earned on a 1 year contract, Jordan also holds the record for the second largest 1 year contract at $30,140,000 in the 1996 - 97 season. Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013 -- 14 season began. LeBron James became the third in the 2016 -- 17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 - Million per year when he signed a record 5 - year contract worth $201 - Million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017 - 18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021 - 22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966.

paragraph_text: Beagle Rupes is an escarpment on Mercury, one of the highest and longest yet seen. It was discovered in 2008 when "MESSENGER" made its first flyby of the planet. It has an arcuate shape and is about 600 km long. The scarp is a surface manifestation of a thrust fault, which formed when the planet contracted as its interior cooled.

paragraph_text: Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all - time records), five MVP Awards, ten All - NBA First Team designations, nine All - Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All - Star Game selections, three All - Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two - time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team (``The Dream Team ''). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

paragraph_text: Player Salary Team Stephen Curry $34,682,550 Golden State Warriors LeBron James $33,285,709 Cleveland Cavaliers Paul Millsap $31,269,231 Denver Nuggets Gordon Hayward $29,727,900 Boston Celtics Blake Griffin $29,512,900 Los Angeles Clippers Kyle Lowry $28,703,704 Toronto Raptors Russell Westbrook $28,530,608 Oklahoma City Thunder Mike Conley, Jr. $28,530,608 Memphis Grizzlies James Harden $28,299,399 Houston Rockets DeMar DeRozan $27,739,975 Toronto Raptors

paragraph_text: The 2018 NFL League year began on March 14. On March 12, clubs were allowed to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the agents of players who were to become unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their contracts two days later. On March 9, clubs were allowed to exercise options for 2018 on players who have option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2017 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the ``Top - 51 ''definition (in which the 51 highest paid - players on the team's payroll must have a collected salary cap hit below the actual cap). The 2018 trading period also began March 14.

paragraph_text: The highest - paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty - million - dollar range. In this twelve - year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003 -- 04 season. Garnett has been the highest - paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997 -- 98 season, Jordan earned $33,000,000. Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013 -- 14 season began. LeBron James became the third in the 2016 -- 17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 - Million per year when he signed a record 5 year contract worth $201 - Million in 2017.

paragraph_text: Stephen Curry Curry in 2016 No. 30 -- Golden State Warriors Position Point guard League NBA (1988 - 03 - 14) March 14, 1988 (age 29) Akron, Ohio Nationality American Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg) Career information High school Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, North Carolina) College Davidson (2006 -- 2009) NBA draft 2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall Selected by the Golden State Warriors Playing career 2009 -- present Career history 2009 -- present Golden State Warriors Career highlights and awards 2 × NBA champion (2015, 2017) 2 × NBA Most Valuable Player (2015, 2016) 4 × NBA All - Star (2014 -- 2017) 2 × All - NBA First Team (2015, 2016) 2 × All - NBA Second Team (2014, 2017) NBA scoring champion (2016) NBA steals leader (2016) 50 -- 40 -- 90 club (2016) NBA Three - Point Contest champion (2015) NBA Sportsmanship Award (2011) NBA All - Rookie First Team (2010) AP Athlete of the Year (2015) Consensus first - team All - American (2009) Consensus second - team All - American (2008) NCAA Division I scoring leader (2009) 2 × SoCon Player of the Year (2008, 2009) Stats at NBA.com Stats at Basketball-Reference.com Medals (hide) Men's basketball Representing United States FIBA World Cup 2010 Turkey Team 2014 Spain Team

paragraph_text: David Thirdkill (born April 12, 1960) is an American retired basketball player who was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (15th overall) of the 1982 NBA draft. A small forward from the College of Southern Idaho and Bradley University, Thirdkill played in five NBA seasons from 1982 to 1987. Born in St. Louis, Missouri and nicknamed "The Sheriff", he played for the Suns, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics. He earned a championship ring with the 1985-86 Celtics.

paragraph_text: Marcus Taylor Paige (born September 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League, on a two - way contract with the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of North Carolina, where he helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2016 NCAA Championship Game and hit the game tying shot.

paragraph_text: This success garnered him a job with the NBA's Boston Celtics in 2013, when he signed a six - year, $22 - million - dollar contract to become head coach. After undertaking a rebuild early in his career, Stevens has led the Celtics to the NBA Playoffs every year since 2015, won a division champion ship, and appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals in each of his last two seasons. He has gained a reputation as one of the NBA's best coaches, with his motion offense and stingy defense earning plaudits from fans, peers, and players, and drawing comparisons to John Wooden.

paragraph_text: Mistinguett (, born Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois; 3 April 1875 – 5 January 1956) was a French actress and singer. She was at one time the highest-paid female entertainer in the world.

paragraph_text: Russell Gene Taylor (born January 26, 1987), better known by the ring name Ryan Taylor, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently working for several independent promotions in the United States, Mexico, and Japan. He occasionally works for the WWE, while never being under contract.

paragraph_text: At Madison Square Garden, New Yorkers can watch the New York Knicks play NBA basketball, while the New York Liberty play in the WNBA. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn is home to the Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball team. The Nets began playing in Brooklyn in 2012, the first major professional sports team to play in the historic borough in half a century. Before the merger of the defunct American Basketball Association with the NBA during the 1976 -- 1977 season, the New York Nets, who shared the same home stadium (Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum) on Long Island with the NHL's New York Islanders, were a two - time champion in the ABA and starred the famous Hall of Fame forward Julius Erving. During the first season of the merger (1976 -- 77), the Nets continued to play on Long Island, although Erving's contract had by then been sold to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets transferred to New Jersey then next season and became known as the New Jersey Nets, and later moved to Brooklyn prior to the 2012 -- 2013 NBA season.

paragraph_text: On July 4, 2016, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Golden State Warriors in a Players' Tribune piece titled ``My Next Chapter. ''The move was received negatively by the public and NBA analysts, with many comparing the move to LeBron James's 2010 off - season departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. On July 7, he officially signed with the Warriors on a two - year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year.

paragraph_text: The highest - paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty - million - dollar range. In this twelve - year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003 -- 04 season. Garnett has been the highest - paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997 -- 98 season, Jordan earned $33,140,000, which still stands as the most any NBA player has earned on a 1 year contract, Jordan also holds the record for the second largest 1 year contract at $30,140,000 in the 96 - 97 season... Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013 -- 14 season began. LeBron James became the third in the 2016 -- 17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 - Million per year when he signed a record 5 - year contract worth $201 - Million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017 - 18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021 - 22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966.

paragraph_text: The highest - paid NBA players by season over the past twelve seasons have received contracts with salaries noted in the twenty - million - dollar range. In this twelve - year span, Kevin Garnett received $28,000,000, which was the highest salary payment of any NBA player, during the 2003 -- 04 season. Garnett has been the highest - paid NBA player per year in seven of the past twelve NBA seasons. Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997 -- 98 season, Jordan earned $33,000,000. Kobe Bryant become just the second player to reach this milestone when the 2013 -- 14 season began. LeBron James became the third in the 2016 -- 17 season. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 - Million per year when he signed a record 5 - year contract worth $201 - Million in 2017.

Question: When did the NBA player with the highest paid contract get his first ring?
Answer: 2015