Like many NBA rookies, the Lakers’ Mark Madsen has had a sudden introduction to fortune and fame that the league and his teammates are helping him deal with

Rookie Mark Madsen signed a three-year, $2.3 million contract with the world-champion L.A. Lakers in June. But given his lifestyle, you’d never know the 2000 Stanford graduate is now a bonafide millionaire.

Since moving from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, Madsen has rented himself a modest one-bedroom apartment in Westwood, where he slept on the floor while comparison-shopping for a mattress.

He has since furnished much of the apartment, which he says is still a work in progress, by shopping at IKEA, finding the two leather couches that dominate the living room “for half of the price they would have cost” at a major furniture retailer.

“To be honest, I’m not a big spender,” says Madsen, who majored in economics at Stanford and would someday like to get his MBA.

That’s probably a good thing, given that he’s one of the highest-paid rookies in the National Basketball Association this year. Those players come from diverse backgrounds but one thing they have in common is their sudden exposure to the fame and fortune that comes with being a pro basketball player.

To help them out, the NBA holds a three-day session at rookie camp during which lawyers, accountants and other professionals talk to players about money. Rookies are also coached about how to handle the media and fame that come with life in the NBA.

Under their wing

Meanwhile, veteran players also keep an eye on the rookies.

For example, Madsen began his pro basketball days driving a late-model minivan, given to him by his mother. But Shaquille O’Neal didn’t think that was appropriate.

“After signing his new contract, Shaq asked me if I wanted to go with him to shop for Rolexes (for players and coaches),” Madsen said. “But he told me we had some stops to make, and we stopped by a car dealership. I had been trying to lease a Chevy Tahoe at home (in the Bay Area), but no one would lease to me because I had no credit. But when you’re with Shaq, there are no questions about your credit.”

Teammate Horace Grant offered this advice to the rookie: “Don’t spend your money. Enjoy the moment and do the right things eat right, rest but don’t get caught up in this. Don’t lose control. Because if you do, it will bite you in the back.”

Managing money is not exactly new to Madsen. His father, Duane, is an investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, who has raised 10 children in the Bay Area suburb of Danville. The Madsens are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and since moving to Los Angeles, Madsen has spent much of his free time participating in church activities.

According to his mother, Erlyn, the family is not an ostentatious bunch, and young Mark has been saving and investing since he was a kid. “When Mark was in college, he would ask for money for holidays and birthdays and he would invest it,” she said. “He has just always been very frugal.”

Indeed, his zeal for holding onto money has been heightened even more since joining the Lakers and realizing there are no career guarantees. “His shooting coach plainly told him: Develop a consistent 15-foot shot and you will play in the league for 10 years. Fail to develop a consistent 15-foot shot and it will be three years and gone,” Erlyn recalls.

Being a Mormon has helped Madsen avoid the excesses that plague many newly rich young men in the NBA.

“As a Mormon, there are not a lot of (negative) things he’d come in contact with,” said teammate Robert Horry. “I don’t think he goes out much, like the rest of us do.”

Lap of luxury

In fact, Madsen chose his apartment for its proximity to the Mormon Temple in Los Angeles. And much of his free time is dedicated to the church and giving back to the community.

Before enrolling at Stanford, Madsen served a two-year Mormon mission in Spain. Last summer, he worked at a basketball camp for inner-city kids in the Crenshaw District, and with a group of students to renovate their Venice school.

The areas that Madsen sees while doing that service work are a far cry from the world he’s living in. The Lakers provide countless luxuries, from valet parking at Staples Center to home-baked cookies on chartered airline flights.

“It’s kind of like living in a dreamland,” Madsen said. “Coming into Staples (Center), they have valet parking for the players and it’s paid for by the Lakers. When we fly, the bus parks next to the runway, then our bags are delivered to our rooms. This is a first-class world. We get the red-carpet treatment. The NBA is great, but it’s not the real world.”