Shaquille O'Neal demanded a million dollars to return David Beckham's lost wallet

Shaquille O’Neal once held David Beckham’s wallet to ransom — at least in jest. The NBA legend recalled finding the former Manchester United and England captain’s wallet lying on the ground in Beverly Hills and demanding a seven-figure reward before handing it back.

O’Neal shared the story during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, explaining that his usual approach to found wallets was rather less honourable. “Usually when I find wallets, I just take all the money out and I just throw them,” the 54-year-old said. “But this was a nice wallet.”

Once he realised the wallet belonged to Beckham, O’Neal decided to have some fun. “First I played a joke. I was like, ‘I have your wallet, it’s going to cost you a million dollars to get it back,’” he recalled. Beckham, however, was not fooled. “He knew it was me. [Beckham said] ‘Shaq, stop playing’. I was like ‘Dave, I found your wallet.’”

The punchline came when Beckham noticed the wallet’s contents were lighter than expected. “The funny thing is he said, ‘There was some money in this wallet, you know what happened?’ And I was like, ‘Nope,’” O’Neal added.

The two men struck up a friendship after Beckham joined MLS side LA Galaxy in 2007, a move that brought the former Real Madrid star to the same city where O’Neal had spent years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. The easy rapport between them was evident in how quickly Beckham saw through the prank.

Beckham has since moved from playing to ownership, serving as president and co-owner of Inter Miami, where he works alongside Lionel Messi. O’Neal, meanwhile, remains one of the most recognisable figures in American sport, and the wallet story has become one of the more entertaining footnotes in an unlikely transatlantic friendship.