“Mark Madsen was the purest player in the NBA so I had to protect him”: Shaquille O’Neal admits to having bought a car and a new wardrobe for his Lakers teammate

Shaquille O’Neal once bought Mark Madsen, his Lakers teammate, a new wardrobe while also putting down a down payment for a car of his. 

Shaquille O’Neal has accumulated quite the amount of wealth over the decades that he has been in the and around the NBA. His career earnings pile up to about $292 million but even over 10 years following his retirement, the Lakers legend boasts a net worth of well over $400 million, as of 2021. 

Similar to Charles Barkley in terms of generosity, Shaquille O’Neal seems to have an endless supply of stories to his name when it comes to distributing his wealth amongst people who need it. Everything from tipping waiters an exuberant amount of money to getting his teammates right.

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Mark Madsen is one such case where Shaq had to step in to make sure his Lakers squad-mate was truly living the way an NBA player should. He expands upon this on ‘Fair Game’ to Kristine Leahy. 

Shaquille O’Neal on helping out Mark Madsen. 

Mark Madsen spent three whole seasons with Shaquille O’Neal on the Los Angeles Lakers, from the ‘01 season to the ‘03 season, before making his way to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Throughout his 9 year career, Madsen never exactly reached starter level status but was a solid role player/ 9th man off the bench for any team. 

Despite him not being close to Shaq in terms of on-court production, the 3x Finals MVP decided he would take care of the 2000 draftee. According to him, Mark was a Mormon and given how strict some of their beliefs are, wasn’t planning on treating himself with the money he accumulated in the NBA. 

‘The purest guy in the NBA’, as said by Shaq himself, wanted to take care of his family with the money he gained. Quite the noble agenda and seeing this, O’Neal started to spend money on Madsen for things he needed, such as a car and a new wardrobe.

Safe to say that Shaq’s generosity has no limits to it.

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