Each player gets $500,000 for winning the title, $200,000 for second place and $100,000 for reaching the semifinals. A $500,000 prize won’t alter the world for Pelicans stars Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson, who will earn more than $30 million each this season. But for Alvarado, it’s a significant financial boost because he makes $1.8 million this season and had earned $3 million total in his NBA career before this season. “I need all that. I need every penny I can count on,” Alvarado said. “The money is great, that’s why you want to keep winning. We want to keep going higher and higher. So, we big on that. Everybody is big on that. Everybody wants to win the game because we love the game. But that’s a big part at the end of the day.