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Shaquille O’Neal before the qualifying ahead of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Shaquille O’Neal before the qualifying ahead of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Shaquille O’Neal’s social circle is spread across a lot of fields. Anecdotes between the NBA titan and hip-hop emcee combination are always hilarious. That’s also how Shaq formed a friendship with the platinum-certified rapper. And somehow, this duo never runs out of funny stories. This artist recently shared a story about sticking Shaq with an unbelievable bill.
Now DJ Diesel is a generous man who can afford to treat a few friends. But he’s also not someone who forgets and moves on and he clearly didn’t let his friend forget this episode.
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That time Fat Joe ran Shaquille O’Neal’s tab for miles
Shaquille O’Neal owned a massive home in Orlando, Florida during his Miami Heat days. The Shaq-sized lakefront property was valued at $11 million when it was sold in 2021. Before the mansion went on the market, Shaq’s longtime friend, Joseph Cartagena aka Fat Joe visited the place with fellow artist, Big Pun.
Fat Joe retold the incident during his recent appearance on Cam Capone News. Their friendship goes back to the time Big Diesel turned into DJ Diesel with a series of rap albums under his name during his active NBA career. Joe was asked how he first got “linked up” with the NBA champion.
But who would’ve expected the story to be this funny? Apparently, Fat Joe and Big Pun had a stop in Orlando at that time and O’Neal invited his friend to his multi-million-dollar mansion.

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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 10: Shaquille O’Neal attends Shaq’s Fun House Big Game Weekend at Talking Stick Resort on February 10, 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Cartagena described it as the “first big mansion” he ever visited. The home boasted its own recording studio and Shaq played the emcees his own songs he recorded with the likes of Nas and Jay-Z. They recorded a song together which is probably Big Pun’s The Bigger They R featuring Fat Joe and Shaquille O’Neal.
Being the generous host that he is, Shaq put his two collaborators up in an Orlando hotel. Fat Joe and Big Pun had the room service on, and they went, to put it mildly, wild.
“Man, we might have ordered, no lie, maybe 100-200 orders of shrimp cocktails, 50 turkey sandwiches,” Cartagena recalled. He almost uttered the word ‘disrespecting’ but it didn’t seem to cover their shenanigans. He instead said, “We was [sic] violating the room bill.”
He calls it a “crime” now but back then they thought it was okay. Fat Joe thought he never noticed because “he’s so rich.”
Shaq never immediately confronted him about the hotel bill they racked up, but he most definitely did. He only chose to remind the rapper about it about five years ago when they met during an All-Star weekend. “He [Shaquille] said, ‘Don’t think I don’t remember all of them shrimp cocktails you and Big Pun ate and all that s**t on my name and all that.'” [sic]
Now we only wonder if Shaq evened the score.
Shaq made Fat Joe fear for his life
This isn’t the only funny story from these goofball friends. In the same interview, the rapper retold a story that he also shared in 2021. It happened when Fat Joe was recording in his own studio in Miami.
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 01: NBA Hall of Fame member Shaquille O’Neal performs a set as DJ Diesel following a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on July 01, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The studio was dark, and all Fat Joe could make out was the presence of a huge shadow of a human body. He panicked thinking someone was coming to kill him until he turned on the lights. The big shadow was none other than the 7-foot-tall friendly giant, Shaquille O’Neal.
Miami had traded O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns. His immediate response was to go to his friend’s studio and tell him the news. Instead, he gave him a scare.
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This larger-than-life personality is what we often see. But Fat Joe said, “Behind the scenes, he’s a genius.” Fat Joe knows best that Shaq is a multi-tasker, and he does it best. What did you think about these #FriendshipGoals? Let us know in the comments!
WATCH THIS STORY – “50lbs Lighter, Shaquille O’Neal Ditches His 150 Restaurants for His $3,000,000,000 Company”
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