The New York Knicks ended the city’s 53-year NBA title drought, but now the reality of the championship bonus settles in. Just like no player receives 100% of their NBA check, as they have to pay a plethora of taxes, it’s the same case with this year’s $11,025,000 team bonus.

This year, the prize pool for the Finals winner was $9,078,000. For teams that played in the earlier rounds, the sum up for grabs was $481,000 for the first-round teams, $586,000 for the conference semifinalists, and $980,000 for the conference finalists. This means that the players are eligible to receive $770,000 from the NBA Finals, but compensation compliance with New York law will see them take home almost 41.56% to 54.55% less.

Section 132.22 of Title 20 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations defines compensation as follows:

“Such compensation shall include, but is not limited to, salaries, wages, bonuses as described in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, and any other type of compensation paid during the taxable year to a member of a professional athletic team for services performed in that year. Such compensation shall not include strike benefits, severance pay, termination pay, contract or option year buy-out payments, expansion or relocation payments, or any other payments not related to services rendered for the team.”

It’s not just the Knicks who will face these taxes, but also players from the Spurs, Cavaliers, 76ers, and Hawks will have to pay these taxes for each road game played at Madison Square Garden.

“(4)  (ii) For purposes of this paragraph, “bonuses” included in “total compensation for services rendered as a member of a professional athletic team” subject to the allocation described in subdivision (a) of this section are:”

“(a) bonuses earned as a result of play (i.e., performance bonuses) during the season, including bonuses paid for championship, playoff or “bowl” games played by a team, or for selection to all-star league or other honorary positions”

The combined marginal tax breakdown includes Federal Income Tax close to 37.00%; Medicare Contributions roughly 2.35%; and then the State and local taxes can also vary from 0 percent in some jurisdictions to as much as 14 percent in states like New York. This will see players retaining a sum of anything between $350,000 and $450,000. Thus, unfortunately, bonuses will be factored in for lower-earning rostered players like Jeremy Sochan.

While Sochan has the lowest salary on the team for players not on two-way deals, clocking in at $806,000, rookie Mohamed Diawara makes $1,272,870. The deductions definitely hurt their pockets, but the Knicks’ highest-paid stars could do what they did back in December.

When the Knicks won the NBA Cup, each player and head coach Mike Brown received $530,933 in prize money. However, Brunson, Hart, and a few others skimmed off the prize money to reward Knicks support staff members. Hart mentioned the massage therapists and PR staff members as recipients of the NBA Cup bonus.

“Some of those people don’t get a bonus, and they’re working to make sure we’re at the top of the game, no matter who they are. We want to make sure those people are also compensated for their extra time and their efforts. We’re compiling that list together now.”

While that was for the support staff, it is something that can be done for the team’s lowest earners. If not, then the players will at least have something more to look forward to based on James Dolan’s promises.

James Dolan sets rewards for Knicks stars

The hunger to end the drought was visible when Dolan refused to hang the NBA Cup banner. Instead, in January, he vowed to hang the championship banner, which has now come true. To keep his promise, the billionaire owner even visited the team and asked them to sacrifice. He even joked about a ‘no fornication’ rule, just like the Spartans.

Usually, the ring is reserved for players, the front office, and the coaching staff, but Dolan has promised rings for the partners of the Knicks’ stars.

“When we win the championship, we will get rings. When we get rings, so will they,” Dolan told his team. “I will buy a ring for each one of your significant others, because their contributions are very important to this team win. If you don’t have a significant other, most of you do, find someone that you’re sharing this journey with for the next 10 weeks.”