There was a small window when salaries exploded and before team values exploded they could’ve.
You said "started making real money in the late 90s". Meaning they have to still be playing during the 2000s as valuations rose.
As recently as 2008, "real money" was Gilbert Arenas getting what was considered a monster deal at 111M/6, or 18.5 a year. 10 years ago Kobe getting 25M a year at 35 was considered a team busting contract (which it was).
The 00s superstars (Shaq/Kobe/Tim/Dirk/KG) were the highest earning in league history with 300-400M each, and all of them other than Shaq played well into the 2010s decade.
This doesn't account taxes and living. By the time they retired teams were worth billions.
In 2009 the median team value was $340 million. The league couldn’t find anyone to buy the Pelicans for a period of time.
They were still active.