Shaq Turned Away at White House Gates

Turns out you can't just walk up to the White House gate. Who knew?

By KURT HELIN

Updated 1:34 PM EST, Tue, Jul 28, 2009

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The president loves basketball. And there are few players most basketball fans would rather shake the hand of than Shaquille O’Neal. So, Shaq walks up to the front gate of the White house and says he wants to see the Hoopster and Chief…

Not so fast. Turns out there is a ton of security at the White House (who knew?), and they don’t care how many championship rings you have. Pretty humorless folk, those Secret Service guys.

It all started because Shaq was in Washington D.C. to host Monday’s WWE RAW as part of his off-season training program. Or, just because he’s a big kid. Whatever the reason, Sunday afternoon Shaq tweeted:

Question, I'm n dc, think if I walk up to the white house, they let me in, I kno the answer, let me kno wht u think, o yea I'm wearin shrts

Shaq told some radio hosts that he put on his best suit and walked up to the gate and… look even if your name is Vladimir Putin, if you just walk up to the gates of the White House unannounced, you are not getting in. Have you ever been to an event the President is at? The security is ridiculous, and at the White House that is ridiculous to the 100th degree. They do not play around.

Shaq’s next tweet:

The white house wouldn't let me in, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Shaq, if you really want to meet the President, here’s all you need to do — stay out of LeBron’s way as he carries you to another NBA championship. Then you can go with the team, meet the man, maybe even get in some pickup ball.

That or call ahead, there’s a decent chance you could swing your way into a highly coveted spot in the president’s regular pickup hoops game. We’d all love to see you knock around some White House aides in the paint. Hey, maybe we can get a few Senators in that game, they could use some knocking around, too.