Shaquille O’Neal Clears the Air About Hating Dwight Howard on Draymond Green’s Podcast

The so-called beef between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard was all the rage back in the day. However, as the Los Angeles Lakers legend shockingly put on The Draymond Green Show, there was never any animosity between the two in the first place. 

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green went on to ask Shaquille O’Neal about his criticism of players in the league. In response, the big man exclaimed that he bore absolutely no ill will towards anyone he criticized.

To prove his point, he brought up his relationship with Dwight Howard, claiming that he has never hated the former Laker. Instead, he claimed that he was only trying to motivate Howard with his actions.

“People think that I hate Dwight. I actually really love Dwight; a little bit of me, probably a little bit more athletic, and jump higher. I always say you gotta average 28-10. I would always say you’re not dominating so hopefully he would get the message and say, ‘F**k you, Shaq.’ This is what I gotta do.”

While it is more than a bit difficult to believe that O’Neal has always ‘loved’ Dwight Howard, his actions do fall in line with what his philosophy has always been.

During his time in the NBA, Shaq was a player who would use disrespect to his name as fuel to humiliate his opponents on a nightly basis. Since he became an analyst, the big man has looked to help current-day players do the exact same thing.

Unfortunately, it has never quite worked out, instead even being the reason behind bad blood on occasion. This is a message that The Big Diesel seems to have now recognized. And so, he recently even went as far as to set things straight with Dwight Howard.

Shaquille O’Neal buries the hatchet with Dwight Howard

Shaquille O’Neal’s recent statement came days after Dwight Howard urged the Los Angeles Lakers legend to bury the past and move on.

“In the NBA we supposed to be brothers shouldn’t be nothing more than a sibling rivalry! Much love UD [Udonis Haslem] … Shaq let’s end this it’s been 50 years.”

 

In the NBA we supposed to be brothers shouldn’t be nothing more than a sibling rivalry! Much love UD … Shaq let’s end this it’s been 50 years pic.twitter.com/Hvwcy8DcMV

— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) May 7, 2024

Howard, who made an appearance on The OG’s Podcast, discussed one of his supposed altercations with Miami Heat legend, Udonis Haslem. After his podcast episode, Howard posted the video above on X(formerly Twitter), asking the former NBA man to put things in the past and move on.

He labeled their supposed beef as ‘sibling rivalry’ and exaggerated their long-standing beef a bit to make his point. And by the looks of it, their little tiff is now finally just a thing of the past.