Shaquille O’Neal is one player that made a lot of money throughout their playing career. O’Neal also enjoyed spending his money, whether that was on himself or with others.

O’Neal was a great teammate to be around. He made sure he did what he had to do on the court, and he also made sure to take care of his teammates off the court.

How much did Shaq make playing basketball?

Over his 19 years playing in the league, O’Neal made over $280 million. That’s just based on his NBA contracts. He made even more through other endorsements and investments. Looking back at his career, O’Neal was one of the most dominant players during his time in the league.

O’Neal made the most money playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. He played with the Lakers for nine seasons and made over $160 million. There was not a team he played where he made under $1 million. The least amount of money he earned playing for a team was the Boston Celtics. That was the last team he played for, and his salary was $1,352,181 in his one season playing for them.

When O’Neal was playing for the Lakers, he did something nice for one of his teammates. This was someone he looked up to not only as a teammate but as a person in general.

What Shaq did for Lakers’ teammate Mark Madsen

Before the 2000-01 season, the Lakers were coming off an NBA championship and were finally on top of the basketball world again. During the 2000 NBA draft, the Lakers selected Mark Madsen in the first round. Madsen’s lifestyle did not fit the Hollywood scene.

O’Neal would make sure that Madsen was taken care of. Coming into the league, Madsen didn’t quite fit in with the rest of his teammates, and O’Neal quickly took note of that. O’Neal wanted to do something to make sure that Madsen knew he was there for him.

One day O’Neal decided to take his fellow teammate shopping and would pay for his down payment on a new truck. In an interview with Fair Game, O’Neal talked about his relationship with Madsen. “He’s the purest guy I’ve ever met in the NBA,” O’Neal said. “It was my duty to protect him.” The NBA can be a different experience for rookies, and O’Neal wanted to make sure that Madsen did not change in a bad way.

How Shaq looked out for Madsen

O’Neal thought that Madsen was one of the nicest people he played with. “Mad Dog was the purest NBA guy I’ve ever met, and I had to protect that,” O’Neal said on his relationship with Madsen.

Madsen was not like his other teammates. For the most part, he stayed to himself, but at the same time, he wanted to hang out with his teammates. O’Neal was one person that Madsen could talk to and know that he wouldn’t look at him in any way. Madsen still knew how to have fun in his way, and O’Neal enjoyed that about him. Madsen would go on to win two NBA championships in his first two seasons with the Lakers, and O’Neal kept Madsen out of trouble.