It is no surprise that salaries in professional sports continue to rise. But looking back to how much players made just 25 years ago shows how drastically salaries have changed.

Recently, Darren Rovell of ESPN came across a list of the 15 highest-paid players in the NBA during the 1988-89 season as originally reported in Sport Magazine.

Those 15 highest-played players 25 years ago had an average salary of just $1.9 million or approximately $3.7 million in today's dollars. For comparison, the 15 highest-paid players in the NBA this season will make an average salary of $20.3 million.

On the next few pages we will take a look at the 15 highest-paid players in 1988-89 and how they compare to the current highest-paid players in the NBA (2013-14 salary information via Spotrac.com).