Shaq has been known by many names. The Diesel, Shaq Fu, Superman, The Big Aristotle, The Big Shaqtus, and The Big Shamrock among many others, but we might have to add The Big Rollback to that ever-growing list of nicknames for the Hall of Famer.
In a recent interview with Real Sports on HBO, Shaq discussed his budding business empire and financial success outside of basketball — something O’Neal spoke with Dime about last year at one of his many commercial shoots. Within all that money talk, Shaq told the story of how he holds the record for the largest single purchase in Walmart history.
As Shaq tells it, when he was traded from Miami to Phoenix in 2008, he arrived in Arizona in need of furnishing his new home. Being an impatient man, O’Neal made a trip to Walmart and bought everything he could possibly need for his new home, from kitchen supplies, to computers, to clothes, and everything in between. That bill ran up to $70,000 and earned him a call from American Express’ fraud monitors who feared the Big Shaqtus’ Big Credit Card had been stolen.
“I have the highest purchase in Walmart history. The CEO will confirm that. I spent about $70,000 at Walmart in one night. I spent so much American Express thought my credit card was stolen. True story.
I get traded from Miami and I go to Phoenix. And I’m very impatient. They’ve already got the apartment sent up, but I ain’t got nothin’. I ain’t got no towels. I ain’t got no pots and pans. I ain’t got no TVs.”
Shaquille O’Neal, who’s worth $800 million, thereabouts, went to Walmart?
“Yes, I’m Walmart’s biggest customer. They know it.”
C’mon. You went to Walmart to furnish your house?
“Yes. Yes. Yes. All day every day. Pans, socks, underwear, tank tops, TVs, printers, computers. So I get to the cash register and click it and it says ‘declined.’ And I’m like, ‘declined?’ So I wipe it off. Declined. So security team from American Express calls me like, ‘Hey man, somebody stole your credit card. They at Walmart.’ I go, no sir that’s me. ‘What the f*ck are you buying.'”
For everyone who’s ever found themselves making a run to Walmart or Target and kept adding things to their cart and found themselves dumbfounded at the end result, you can at least feel comfortable knowing that you aren’t alone, and even millionaire athletes like Shaq can find themselves doing the same thing.
