paragraph_text: In the early years of the NBA draft, a player had to finish his four - year college eligibility to be eligible for selection. Reggie Harding, who had graduated from high school but did not enroll in a college, became the first player drafted out of high school when the Detroit Pistons selected him in the fourth round of the 1962 draft. However, the NBA rules at that time prohibited a high school player to play in the league until one year after his high school class graduated. Thus, he spent a year playing in a minor basketball league before he was drafted again in the 1963 draft by the Pistons. He finally entered the league in the 1963 -- 64 season and played four seasons in the NBA and American Basketball Association (ABA).

paragraph_text: The NBA Championship ring is an annual award given by the National Basketball Association to the team that wins the NBA Finals. Rings are presented to the team's players, coaches, and members of the executive front office. Red Auerbach has the most rings overall with 16. Phil Jackson has the most as coach and Bill Russell has the most as a player (11 each)

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: 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: Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A versatile forward, he played college basketball for one season with the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers, when he was named a consensus first - team All - American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the 76ers.

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: The highest paid player in Major League Baseball (MLB) from the 2013 season is New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez with an annual salary of $29,000,000, $4 million higher than the second - highest paid player, Cliff Lee. MLB does not have a hard salary cap, instead employing a luxury tax which applies to teams whose total payroll exceeds certain set thresholds for a given season. Free agency did not exist in MLB prior to the end of the reserve clause in the 1970s, allowing owners before that time to wholly dictate the terms of player negotiations and resulting in significantly lower salaries. Babe Ruth, widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players ever, earned an estimated $910,696 ($14,654,832 inflation - adjusted from 1931 dollars) over his entire playing career. When asked whether he thought he deserved to earn $80,000 a year ($1,171,952 inflation - adjusted), while the president, Herbert Hoover, had a $75,000 salary, Ruth famously remarked, ``What the hell has Hoover got to do with it? Besides, I had a better year than he did. ''

paragraph_text: The highest paid player in Major League Baseball (MLB) from the 2013 season is New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez with an annual salary of $29,000,000, $4 million higher than the second - highest paid player, Cliff Lee. MLB does not have a hard salary cap, instead employing a luxury tax which applies to teams whose total payroll exceeds certain set thresholds for a given season. Free agency did not exist in MLB prior to the end of the reserve clause in the 1970s, allowing owners before that time to wholly dictate the terms of player negotiations and resulting in significantly lower salaries. Babe Ruth, widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players ever, earned an estimated $910,696 ($14,341,967 inflation - adjusted from 1931 dollars) over his entire playing career. When asked whether he thought he deserved to earn $80,000 a year ($1,146,932 inflation - adjusted), while the president, Herbert Hoover, had a $75,000 salary, Ruth famously remarked, ``What the hell has Hoover got to do with it? Besides, I had a better year than he did. ''

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: 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 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Portland Trail Blazers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Philadelphia 76ers were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Prior to the draft, the Capital Bullets were renamed the Washington Bullets. An expansion franchise, the New Orleans Jazz, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the tenth pick in each round. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. Before the draft, 20 college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 178 players.

paragraph_text: The oldest player ever to play in the NBA was Nat Hickey who played one game in the 1947 -- 48 season when he was 45 years and 363 days old. Hickey, who was coaching the Providence Steamrollers at the time, decided to activate himself and played in a game for the Steamrollers. In his first and only game as a player for the Steamrollers, he missed all six of his shot attempts and only scored two points from three free throw attempts. The second oldest player is Kevin Willis. Willis, who had played 20 seasons (excluding the 1988 -- 89 season he missed due to injury) in the league before he sat out the 2005 -- 06 season and earned a contract with the Dallas Mavericks on April 2, 2007. He then played 5 games for the Mavericks at the age of 44. The third oldest player is Hall of Famer Robert Parish. Parish, who starred with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s, played his last season with the Chicago Bulls at the age of 43. He played in 1,611 regular season games during his 21 - year career, more than any other player in NBA history. When the Bulls won the 1997 Finals, Parish became the oldest player ever to win the NBA championship. There are currently 27 players who played in the NBA after they turned 40.

paragraph_text: Wilt Chamberlain holds the all - time records for total rebounds (2,149) and rebounds per game (27.2) in a season; both records were achieved in the 1960 -- 61 season. He also holds the rookie records for total rebounds, with 1,941 in the 1959 -- 60 season. Among active players, Dwight Howard has the highest season rebound total (1,161 in the 2007 -- 08 season) and Kevin Love has the highest season rebounding average (15.23 in the 2010 -- 11 season). At 22 years, 130 days, Howard is the youngest rebounding leader in NBA history (achieved in the 2007 -- 08 season), while Dennis Rodman is the oldest at 36 years, 341 days (achieved in the 1997 -- 98 season).

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: Dennis Schröder (; born September 15, 1993) is a German professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously played for SG Braunschweig and Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany, before spending his first five seasons in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks.

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: 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: Only seven players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played at least 20 seasons in their careers. In 1985 -- 86, Kareem Abdul - Jabbar broke the previous NBA record of 16 seasons held by Dolph Schayes, John Havlicek, Paul Silas, and Elvin Hayes; he finished his career in 1988 -- 89 with a then - record 20 seasons played. Robert Parish broke the mark in 1996 -- 97, when he retired after 21 seasons, and Kevin Willis tied him in his final season in 2006 -- 07. They were joined by Kevin Garnett in 2015 -- 16 when he began his 21st season. His Minnesota Timberwolves played their season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, who became the fifth player to reach the 20 - season plateau that night. The game was the first time in league history that two opposing players had at least 20 years of experience. Having played his entire career with the Lakers, Bryant was also the first NBA player to spend 20 seasons with one team. In 2017 -- 18, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter began their 20th seasons. Nowitzki, who has spent his entire career with the Dallas Mavericks, joined Bryant as the only players to play 20 seasons with one team.

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: The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2010 -- 11 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in which the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 4 games to 2 to win their first NBA championship. The series was held from May 31 to June 12, 2011. German player Dirk Nowitzki was named the Finals MVP, becoming the second European to win the award after Tony Parker (2007) and the first German player to do so. The series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, which the Heat had won in six games.

Question: When did the highest paid NBA player in this season get his first ring?
Answer: 2015