The feud that seems to have been going on since the beginning of time between Los Angeles Lakers Bigmen Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard just had its latest chapter written.
In a recent episode of Inside the NBA, the cast was playing a game and Ernie Johnson Jr. asked O’Neal who the Orlando Magic’s all-time leading scorer is. The answer was Howard and O’Neal got it correct. However, instead of answering the question, the former Los Angeles Laker great just held up a note card that said Howard’s name.
In fairness to Howard, it has been more of O’Neal taking shots at him than anything else. The issues between the two seemed to have begun with Howard wearing the Superman cape on his way to winning the 2008 dunk contest. This was around the time that O’Neal was exiting his prime while Howard was establishing himself as the best center in the game and embracing the “Superman” nickname.
Why A Feud Between Shaquille O’Neal And Dwight Howard?
If you didn’t know, a reason why this may have triggered O’Neal is because the former number one overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft was given the “Superman” moniker for his freakish athleticism and strength.
Something that Shaquille O’Neal would continuously criticize about Howard was that he hadn’t won a championship. Howard did eventually get over the hump with the Lakers in 2020.
Since he was a role player at that point in his career, that didn’t impress O’Neal. During the celebrations in the locker room, Howard went live on Instagram and delivered an emotional message. O’Neal followed that by calling Howard a “front-runner” and a “bandwagon jumper” on The Big Podcast With Shaq.
Howard appeared on the OG’s Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller earlier this year and made it known that he has no issues with O’Neal.
“There hasn’t been a time where Shaq has just reached out like that. I’ve reached out to Shaq myself on multiple occasions because I’m like ‘What’s the issue?’ Like, I understand the competitive side, but we don’t even compete against each other and it’s like two different two different stratospheres. Like, he played, he did his thing, nobody’s ever taken that away and I did my thing. I have reached out to him, and I would like for us to have some type of, you know, relationship. Life is too short and for us to be who we are, there’s no way we shouldn’t be able to work together in any capacity,” Howard said.
O’Neal also spoke about Howard this year in a podcast format on an episode of Bleacher Report’s From The Point by Trae Young. O’Neal made it seem like he treated Howard the way he did out of tough love.
“If I mention your name, it means I love you and respect you. Like, I used to love Dwight. He did something I couldn’t do. I wish I could jump that high. I love Dwight Howard. Other people don’t know. This is my first time saying that,” O’Neal said.
One of the things that makes this whole situation between the two so interesting is the parallels between both parties.
They both are former number-one overall picks by the Orlando Magic. They both led the Magic to the NBA Finals within the first five years of their careers. When they eventually felt it was time for them to move on from the Magic, they both found their way to the Purple and Gold.
The biggest difference between the two is a huge one. Howard’s time with the Lakers was a forgettable one and O’Neal’s was one of the most dominant runs in the history of the league. The Lakers won three championships between 2000-2002, with O’Neal being named NBA Finals MVP in all victories.