“I Want My Money”: $1 Million Prank Puts Shaquille O’Neal in Tight Spot as NBA Veteran Hilariously Demands Payback

Even all that business savvy isn’t going to save Shaq some ‘bucks’. His Inside the NBA co-host Jamal Crawford was determined to extract the dues of an old bet that he accidentally served Shaquille O’Neal some inspiration. Now he might get paid some real money in the form of royalties. Luckily for Crawford, the entire exchange was caught on camera with plenty of witnesses to vouch for him when he came on The Big Podcast.

“Tell Shaq to pay me,” Crawford told his Instagram followers. He’s not talking about getting O’Neal to pay him non-Shaqbucks currency. He means, “With my dawgs!! A convo you don’t want to miss!” Referring to their month-old bet on NBA on TNT when Crawford bet O’Neal that the Phoenix Suns would win over the Denver Nuggets.

Phoenix won 117-107 and O’Neal had to square up a million dollars as promised. Except, the giant prankster gave him wads of fake money with his own face on them, officially dubbed the ‘Shaqbucks’ in TNT Studio. Shaq pointed out on The Big Podcast that Crawford is still mad about the prank and the former Suns star confirmed it. “I want my money,” Crawford groused, even though Shaq contended he paid him in full. “I want all about the Benjamins. I want some real Benjamin.” To which Shaq joked that he’d only get “Benjamin O’Neal.”

Crawford pulled up the figurative receipts referring to how the bet started in the first place. He was so confident in his former team that he put a $1000 on the Suns. Shaq had more faith in the defending champions to raise it to $10,000 on Denver. Mid-game, he changed it to a million dollars. But that overtime sealed the game in the Suns’ favor.

The ‘Craws’d Up’ head as well as Candace Parker were buzzing at the thought of getting a million bucks from Shaq. That turned into disappointment seeing the Big Aristotle’s face on it. He was mad enough to throw the Shaqbucks at their shameless namesake. Now his appearance on the podcast could get him his money in other ways.

Jamal Crawford has a ‘ka-ching’ moment

While O’Neal argued Crawford skipped the fine print, the new TNT analyst argued that he had no use for Shaqbucks. “They don’t even work in ‘Big’s Chicken.'” He meant O’Neal’s national dining chain, Big Chicken Shaq. The misnaming tickled Shaq till a lightbulb moment. “That’s an idea!” 

READ MORE: “[Anthony Davis] Is Not a Big Man”: Shaquille O’Neal Doesn’t Include 6’10 Superstar in His Reputed Alliance

Crawford and Adam Lefkoe were lost till the chicken sandwich mogul spoke about making a ‘Shaqbucks’ reward system for Big Chicken franchises. You could practically see the dollar signs in Jamal’s eyes. “Maybe get some money off of that,” Crawford suggested. After all, he deserves a pretty royalty for giving the big man the ‘Shaqbucks’ idea.

O’Neal swiftly changed the topic but Crawford won’t let it go. What do you think, does Shaq owe Jamal that royalty?

READ MORE: “[Shaquille O’Neal] B*tcha**”: 6ft 9 NBA Star Recounts Hilarious Encounter as Painful Memory Resurfaces