Shaquille O'Neal was once left embarrassed by his credit card company after he spent $70,000 in a massive shopping spree at Walmart

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal is known for making extravagant financial purchases, and one such instance occurred when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2008. Upon arriving in Phoenix and finding his new apartment completely empty, O'Neal decided to go on a late-night shopping spree at Walmart to furnish it.

During an appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” in 2018, the big man recounted the story. O’Neal said that he purchased $70,000 worth of household items in the middle of the night after realizing that his new Phoenix apartment was bare. However, he then faced embarrassment when his credit card was unexpectedly declined when he tried to complete the massive purchase:

“I have the biggest purchase in Walmart history, $70,000,” O’Neal said.

“So, I get traded from Miami to Phoenix, and I’m the type of guy that has no patience. So, when I get to Phoenix, they have an apartment for me, nothing is in it. So, two or three in the morning, I gotta go get four or five TVs, I gotta go get printers, I gotta go get laptops, I gotta go get appliances, sheets, towels, underwear, T-shirts."

“So, at the end, it was $70,000. So, I put my credit card in, and it got declined. So, I pulled it out and (tried to clean it off) and I put it back in, it said declined again.”

Shaquille O’Neal’s credit card company thought his card had been stolen

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal

According to Shaquille O’Neal, after his credit card was declined, he then pondered why it had happened. The big man said that he knew that he had more than enough money to complete the purchase.

However, it was at that point that he was contacted by his credit card company, alerting him that his card had been deactivated. This came as the company thought that O’Neal’s card had been stolen by someone who went on a Walmart shopping spree. The big man then informed the company that the purchase was in fact made by him and got them to reactivate his card:

“So, now I’m saying, ‘I know I’m not broke,’” O’Neal said.

“So, I just said, ‘Alright, I’ll be back.’ Then the American Express security called me, ‘Hey man, somebody stole your credit card and they spent $70,000 at Walmart.’ I said, ‘No, that was me.’ ‘What the hell are you buying for $70,000?’ So, they turned it back on. That’s a true story.”