Shaquille O’Neal‘s feud with Dwight Howard is well known and the 4x NBA champion has kept going at Howard for years now. Recently, the big fella talked about Howard on an episode of The Big Podcast and said that he only wants the best for him, and that Howard never reached out to him for advice. While Shaq said this with conviction, Howard was quick to call him out.
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Even though the origin of this unusual beef is largely unknown, many believe that when Howard embraced the Superman moniker during the 2008 Dunk Contest, it didn’t sit well with Shaq. As we know, the 3x Finals MVP has a lot of nicknames and Superman is one of those nicknames that he refers to himself with. So, when Howard started getting popular by that name, the four-time NBA champion didn’t like it.
Even on his podcast, he said that all he wants is for Howard to average 28 and 15 so he can justify the Superman name.
Shaq says Dwight Howard never reached out to him for advice
“All I said about the young fella was, ‘He needs to average 28 & 15.’ I don’t know how it got to ‘He don’t like me!'”
( @bigpodwithshaq / https://t.co/5clxBNeewE) pic.twitter.com/jY6YspwGyw
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 29, 2024
Jamal Crawford, who was the guest on the episode asked Shaq if Howard ever reached out to him for advice.
Shaq said, “No. I don’t need conversations…but if I put the information out, you don’t need to reach out. We don’t need to have a conversation.”
Shaq said that when he was a youngster, he wasn’t catered to by some of the greats of the game like Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but that only fueled him to be great and make sure they know who he is. Even though this was Shaq’s side of the story, Howard reacted to the post with a cap emoji.
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) March 30, 2024
Fans take Dwight Howard’s side in his feud with Shaquille O’Neal
It’s expected in a high-profile beef that the room will be divided. However, in this case, there is a large majority that takes Howard’s side as they have witnessed Shaq taking shots at him for many years now. One fan responded to Howard’s tweet by saying that the big fella has hated on him every chance he got in the past.
Shaq must have forgot that he hated this man every chance he got
— Wayne (@MrWayneWoo) March 29, 2024
It must be impossible to get a positive word out from someone who never misses an opportunity to take a swing at you. Howard is going through that same situation with Shaq.
Shaq hated on him for years lmao
— Lebron in 1 (@Lebronin1) March 29, 2024
One fan said that Shaq has been bullying Howard for years and over a period of time it has almost become like a running gag from him.
I think it was the part where Shaq publicly bullied him every 5 minutes
— Per Sources (@PerSources) March 29, 2024
Another fan said that Shaq always keeps bringing up his name every chance he gets, and it is getting a little weird now.
Why does Shaq feel the need to bring up Dwight Howard’s name at least once a month?
— Adam☘️ (@CelticsAdam34) March 29, 2024
All of this could also be seen as the classic basketball conversation problem about different generations. One fan said that Shaq makes a fool of himself with these old man takes.
Shaq has too many bitter old man takes
— Brandon J. McGill (@14xfounder) March 29, 2024
It doesn’t even matter now who started it because Shaq has enough skeletons in his closet regarding this topic that the blame would always go to him every time, he brings up Howard’s name during a conversation.