Shaquille O’Neal’s less frugal ways led him down the path of setting the all-time purchase record at Walmart in 2008. A whopping $70,000 bill while he was on a shopping spree to furnish his new place in Phoenix. Intriguingly, a few years before that, Shaq had tried to buy every single item available at a Walmart in Louisiana. His effort was, in fact, thwarted by the retail chain’s executives at the time.
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O’Neal and millionaire YouTuber, MrBeast, were having a shopping-record-attempt banter on the Big Podcast with Shaq. And, when his guest claimed he once tried to purchase every item at a Walmart for a YouTube video, Shaq interjected, describing his own attempt.
“They won’t let you do that,” said O’Neal.
Now, why was Shaq trying to wipe clean a Walmart inventory? It turns out, he was planning it for a noble cause. The year was 2005.
“When they had Hurricane Katrina, I went to the Baton Rouge Walmart [in Louisiana] and started buying everything for everybody and they said ‘no we can’t’. They called corporate and corporate said ‘no we can’t’,” narrated Shaq.
This instance speaks volumes about just how charitable Shaq is. The Lakers legend has always made an effort to give back to communities in times of need.
“It could be worse and that could be you,” is the belief that keeps him going, the reason Shaq is always looking to help people in any way he can.
Walmart never provided Shaq with an explanation when they stopped him. MrBeast revealed that, during his attempt, Walmart executives told him they want the general public to always get what they come in for. If their store gets cleared out and customers can’t find what they’re looking for, it leads to poor publicity.
MrBeast added that he’s actively working on it, looking for a Walmart that’s about to shut down or relocate. That would allow him to buy out their inventory. It would cost him about $7 million, he told the Lakers legend.
As for Shaq, a few years after the rejection, he went on to establish the famous record of $70,000.
Why did Shaq drop $70,000 at a Walmart?
While on the Late Late Show with James Corden a few years back, Shaq spoke on how his ‘Miami to Phoenix’ trade in 2008 led to him dropping $70,000 in a single trip to Walmart. His impatience to settle into an unfurnished apartment led to all of this.
Shaq went to Walmart at 2 or 3 AM. He bought everything from four or five TVs to a bunch of printers. Once the bill came to $70k, his credit card was declined.
“I know I’m not broke,” O’Neal had exclaimed.
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It turns out his credit card company assumed someone had stolen his card, so they declined the purchase to be safe.
“The American Express security called, ‘Hey man, somebody stole your credit card, and they spent $70,000 at Walmart.’ I said no, that was me.” Shaq narrated and imitated the security man’s voice, asking, “What the hell are you buying for $70,000?”
Given his extravagant ways, Shaq’s credit card company shouldn’t be all too surprised that he wanted to spend $70,000 in one go. That said, if the big fella had simply waited for his belongings from Miami to arrive in Phoenix, he would’ve saved $70k.
Then again, this is Shaquille O’Neal we are talking about. The man is well and capable of doing this, or even bigger stunts, on any day he pleases.
