Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard‘s troubled relationship is not a secret. Since his first few days in the league, Howard has been a victim of Shaq’s savage bullying. Perhaps it was the ‘Superman’ moniker that started it all. Diesel was the first holder of the name. His on-court dominance, in all fairness, justified it.
Today, Shaq is an analyst on TNT while Howard is playing professional basketball in Taiwan. This hasn’t exactly stopped O’Neal from targeting the 6ft 10″ center. The two have even been involved in a debate over some of O’Neal’s comments about Howard and the level of play in Taiwan.
However, Shaq recently deferred from his usual tradition of dragging Howard through the mud. While commenting on Howard’s three-point competition in Taiwan. Shaquille O’Neal honored the former Orlando Magic big man with rare praise.
Also read: ‘Bully’ Shaquille O’Neal Shares Fake Dwight Howard Stats on IG to Revive Buried Feud With ‘Superman’
Shaquille O’Neal impressed with Dwight Howard’s performance in the Taiwanese 3-pt competition
The NBA on TNT crew recently went on the show and showed Howard’s appearance in the Taiwanese 3-pt competition. Howard was appearing in what was the first All-Star weekend held by the Taiwanese league. For a league that was founded in 2021, Howard’s presence in the All-Star game certainly helped their popularity.
And all things considered, Howard was impressive in the three-point competition. He scored 15 points while making 4 shots from his money ball rack. Howard also landed a long-range three. Shaquille O’Neal was impressed with Howard. He claimed Dwight was definitely a better shooter than him.
O’Neal: “Not bad. He looked pretty good, nice form.” Shaq continued: ” The man had 14 points, I can’t get 14 points. I ain’t got nothing to say. I got G-14 qualification, you have got to understand that when I talk, I got the classification. The man is a better 3-point shooter than me. Unless we put up a rack here one day and I beat 14.”
Shaq and Howard butted heads over the ‘Superman’ nickname
Though there is no way to ascertain how and why the beef between O’Neal and Howard started, the one major turning point was the nickname ‘Superman.’ When Howard came to the league, he established himself as an enforcer. Howard improved over the years as a defensive force and a fundamental big man. He self-styled himself as ‘Superman.’
The animosity between Howard and Shaquille O’Neal only increased after this. Shaq, who was the original Superman, began to hold Howard to the same standards as himself. He began criticizing the former Magic star more and more over the years. Howard even went on to clarify his nickname. He stated it wasn’t taken from Shaq but Soulja Boy’s song Crank that. However, this clarification did little to ease the pressure Shaq put on Howard.
