Shaq gifted Lakers teammate incredible car after seeing him drive 'beat up Toyota' to NBA game

Shaquille O'Neal decided to take his Los Angeles Lakers teammate to a car dealership after he noticed the rookie was driving an old Toyota van to training.

As well as his undisputed talents on the court, Shaq is widely renowned for his generosity and random acts of kindness.

From tipping a young waitress $4,000, which paid her rent for two months, to paying for a stranger's engagement ring after standing behind him in a jewellery store, the four-time NBA winner is happy to share his wealth.

And somebody who knows all about that is former Lakers player Mark Madsen.

Madsen, who was a first-round pick (29th overall) at the 2000 NBA draft, has previously opened up on Shaq gifting him a blue Chevy Tahoe after the 7ft 1 center spotted him behind the wheel of a beat up Toyota van.

“We get to the car dealership, he walks up to the first guy and he said ‘take me straight to the manager’ and he says ‘Mr. Manager, this is Mad Dog and I’m gonna buy him a car today’… It was a blue Chevy Tahoe,” Madsen recalled on FAIR GAME in 2019.

He added: “And then he took me Rolex shopping. And he bought a new Rolex for every single guy on the team."

Shaq has previously described Madsen as "the purest NBA guy I ever met" as he spoke to FAIR GAME. "He really was. And I had to protect that," he added. "Most rookies when they come in, they go crazy, including me. I went crazy. Mark was none of that."

He explained that Madsen wanted to save money, but in order to help him feel welcome, Shaq also bought him a fancy suit. “I still wanted to make him cool, part of the guys,” he added.

Shaq and Madsen during the first quarter of the season-opener against the San Antonio Spurs in 2002. Image credit: Getty

On the subject of cars, O'Neal once spent $1.3 million at a dealership after a staff member questioned whether he could afford it.

Speaking on Drink Champs, he said: "I didn't want to spend $400,000 on a car so I'm like, 'Hey man, how much is this?' Finally, the old guy says, 'Yo man, you're asking about all these cars, can you afford them?'.

"Now I'm p*****d. I said, 'What the f*** did you say to me?'. So I buy three, that one, that one and that one and I want them dropped off. Move the seat back. I got three Rolls Royces that I never drive. So there goes another million."