NBA rivalries are a thing of legend. Player against player, fighting for dominance in the media’s eyes, Finals matchups that took place multiple times — we’ve seen it all. But no rivalry makes you sit back and think, “Why are these two players beefing?” quite like the feud between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal.
Advertisement
Their beef certainly seems weird to the casual fan. Both big men, drafted No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic, dominant in the paint. If anything, the similarities in their games should have made for a mentor-mentee relationship. But when Dwight won the Dunk Contest in 2008 while wearing a Superman cape, Shaq took offense. He felt that “Superman” was his nickname, and he didn’t like the fact that it was being used by a player with no rings to his name.
Ever since then, the big fella has taken not-so-subtle jabs at Howard. During an appearance on Patrick Bet-David’s podcast, Dwight recalled how Shaq’s constant needling made him feel uncomfortable.
Howard said the weirdest part about the hate he was receiving was that Shaq had always been a hero to him, someone he looked up to while growing up. The age gap between them didn’t help, either. “First of all, he’s damn near my dad’s age. Second of all, I watched him play my whole life, so I have the utmost respect for him as a player,” he said.
“But like, what is our issue here? What really is our issue here? I don’t know you from nowhere for us to have this type of issue!” he continued. Dwight did acknowledge that some of Shaq’s animosity may have stemmed from the fact that the two were constantly compared to each other. Orlando’s #1 pick, athletically gifted, fell short of the ultimate glory in the Finals; their careers seemed very similar at the start. But he pointed out that comparison is the thief of joy, and that despite the surface-level similarities in their game, D12 and Shaq were fundamentally different players.
While he made multiple efforts to squash the beef, the common consensus on the internet was that Shaq wasn’t ready to do so, so it made Dwight’s next words a welcome surprise.
How Howard and Shaq finally settled their differences
Talking — that’s how two of the NBA’s most dominant big men settled their differences. Howard recalled meeting Shaq at a bar in Orlando after being inducted into the Magic’s Hall of Fame. With both of them being hard to miss, the entire bar braced for something to go down.
But instead of a confrontation, the two talked it out in the back. Howard said Shaq apologized for anything he had said that may have come off as disrespectful, explaining that he never meant to hate on him, only to push him to be the best version of himself.
Shaq also addressed their history when Howard appeared on The Big Podcast in April, shortly after the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Dwight’s upcoming induction. Howard even asked Shaq to walk him out at the ceremony, and the four-time champion agreed.
It seemed like that was the end of the beef — until the episode dropped, and Shaq decided to clarify things even further. “He’s like, ‘Hey, big fella, can I talk to you?’ So we go in the back, and before he started talking, I said, ‘Hey, man, what makes you think I don’t like you?'” Shaq revealed on the pod.
As of now, things between Shaq and Dwight seem to be on good terms. The big fella is set to walk D12 out at his Hall of Fame induction later this year, and sooner rather than later, Dwight’s jersey is likely to join Shaq’s in the rafters of the Magic’s arena, rightfully honoring two of the most dominant players in franchise history.
