LA Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is known to have a long-term beef with Dwight Howard. This was because Howard had used the “Superman” moniker that belonged to Shaq during the 2008 All-Star dunk contest. Recently, however, Shaq seems to have softened his stance on his fellow big man. On Instagram, O’Neal shared a clip talking about how Howard should have been part of the NBA’s Top-75 team.
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O’Neal and Shaq’s long-term rivalry recently seems to have warmed up. Shaq has posted multiple Instagram stories in recent weeks talking about Dwight Howard’s contribution to the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal posts video talking about Dwight Howard’s accomplishments
Earlier today, Shaq re-shared a video that was initially posted by the InspiredByHoops Instagram account. The clip saw Dwight Howard’s coach rant about his non-inclusion in the NBA 75 team.
Stan Van Gundy managed Dwight Howard from 2007-12 at the Orlando Magic. He claimed that Howard did enough and could only be compared to the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant during his prime:
“Back then, the only two guys you could even talk about in his league were LeBron and Kobe. There were no one else to talk about in my opinion. Because he was for threes straight years the defensive player of the year. He was still getting you 20+ per game, everything revolved around him. For him to not be in top-75, come on. You can think a guy is better. What you cannot contend is that Anthony Davis had a better career than Dwight Howard. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
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Van Gundy was of the opinion that while a range of players on the list might have been better than Howard, they didn’t have better careers than him. He took the example of Anthony Davis, stating that it was ridiculous to not have Howard in the top-75 list.
Shaquille O’Neal thinks Dwight Howard should have been in the NBA 75 Team pic.twitter.com/eTfzyVSvW6
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) August 16, 2023
Shaq’s re-sharing of the video is essentially him acknowledging Dwight Howard’s achievements. He also seems to be of the opinion that Howard deserved to be part of the top-75 list.
O’Neal has warmed up to Dwight in recent weeks
O’Neal had famously gone on a rant against Howard for using his Superman moniker. Shaq had claimed that the whole Superman thing “didn’t quite work for him.”
He was angry at Howard for using his nickname but seems to have moved on in recent weeks. Recently, O’Neal shared another image on his Instagram story talking about Howard’s achievements.
He posted a video that talked about Howard’s impressive statistics in the NBA. The clip also talked about how he was one of the best defenders and rebounders that the NBA ever saw.
