Over the years, there has been a notion that basketball players want to be rappers and vice versa. But Damian Lillard was one of the few players who went ahead and fulfilled his dream of being a rapper. Discussing his feud with Shaquille O’Neal, Dame recalls the beef that went down between the two.
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Lillard was the latest guest to join LSU guard Fla’ujae on her podcast, Best of Both Worlds. While talking to another professional from the music industry, Lillard talked about his brief feud with O’Neal that resulted in multiple diss tracks.
It all started when the former Portland Trail Blazers star made an appearance on Joe Budden’s podcast, claiming he was the best rapper out of all the NBA players. And this statement did not sit well with Shaq.
“Me and Shaq had a little dust-up. Shaq dissed me, man. Shaq dissed me then I dissed him and then I dissed him again. I was on Joe Budden’s podcast and he was like, ‘Who the best basketball player out the league to, you know, who rap the best?’ And I was like, ‘Me.’”
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O’Neal released a freestyle diss aimed at Lillard on his Instagram, which instantly went viral in a matter ofter of hours. Unaware of O’Neal’s initial jab, Lillard got a link to Shaq’s shenanigans, stating he’d never be as good as Russell Westbrook or Stephen Curry.
“Take your time to respond,
There is no hurry,
You’ll never be Westbrook,
Never be Curry.”
-Shaq’s Freestyle Diss
Shaq’s initial freestyle marked the start of the beef and it was on between the two.
“Somebody was like, ‘Man, Shaq dissed you.’ And they like, sent me like, a link. I clicked on it and he actually did. He actually did diss me. Training camp, I left my house that day and went to the studio.”
Lillard went on to release two back-to-back diss tracks on the four-time NBA champion. His first track was titled ‘Reign Reign Go Away,’ where he took shots at him through his former teammates Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.
“Even in Miami, won that off the strength of Flash.”
-Reign Reign Go Away
Dame stated how Shaq didn’t win championships on his own and had to ride Bryant and Wade’s coattails instead.
“Your flexing ain’t really your thing bro.
We both could be working at Kinko’s,
And Kobe won you them rings though.”
-Reign Reign Go Away
The 2013 Rookie of the Year wasn’t going to sit and wait for The Big Aristotle to respond. He immediately followed his first diss track with another three days later, titled ‘I Rest My Case.’
“Cause we gon’ shoot it out ’til you bow and just never speak.”
-I Rest My Case
Lillard may have been referring to Shaq’s poor shooting or his mediocre flow, claiming he would back down eventually as he did not have a chance at winning.
“I mean it, I’m not the one,
I don’t care about what you did.
What you done lately?
Don’t tell me ’bout what was then.”
-I Rest My Case
The two exchanged multiple jabs over their NBA careers and personal lives. O’Neal came back with vengeance, releasing one final track, titled, ‘2nd Round Knockout.’ The song was full of explicit content that ended up catching many listeners off-guard.
However, according to the Lakers legend, this so-called beef was all in fun and there weren’t any hard feelings between the two. While on the NBA on TNT American Express Road Show back in 2019, the crew was in Los Angeles. And that is where Diesel stated, “The thing that went on for me and him was just for fun.”
Granted that the back and forth between the two was just for fun, it sure did bring a lot of entertainment to not just basketball fans but fans in general. And the best part about this apparent beef was the two basketball icons have been on good terms ever since.
But who won the beef between the two? That’s a question for you to answer.
