Shaquille O’Neal may be worth $400 million, but he’s not above dropping some major dollars at Walmart. That is if his credit card doesn’t get declined.
A 2018 clip of Shaq recounting the story of an ill-fated Walmart shopping spree recently went viral yet again after “The Late Late Show” reposted the hilarious talk show moment on Instagram. In the clip — which is from an April 13, 2018 appearance on the show — Shaq recounts the story of his $70,000 Walmart shopping spree to host James Corden and guest Victoria Beckham, which he claims was the “biggest purchase in Walmart history.”
The shopping excursion happened back in 2008 when Shaq was traded from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns. When arriving in Arizona for the first time after a red-eye flight, the now 50-year-old basketball icon soon realized his accommodations were lacking.
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“I’m the type of guy, I have no patience,” he says in the clip. “So when I get to Phoenix, they have an apartment for me, [but] nothing’s in it.”
So Shaq went to Walmart at 3 a.m., dropping $70,000 on five TVs, printers, laptops, appliances, linens, and even underwear. Problem is, when he hit the checkout, his card was declined — and then declined again.
“Now I’m saying, I know I’m not broke,” he says in the clip. “So I just said [to the cashier], ‘Alright, I’ll be back.'”
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That’s when American Express security called him to let him know a “thief” was going on a Walmart shopping spree with his credit card. When Shaq said he was the so-called thief, security turned back on his card, but not before asking what we are all thinking: “What the heck are you buying for $70,000 at Walmart?”
While there’s absolutely no moral to the story, we can all take away one thing from Shaq’s Walmart shopping spree: Next time you feel bad about your Walmart total, don’t.
