Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard recently put their nearly 20-year feud to rest. In their recent conversation, O’Neal revealed his true feelings to Howard, whom he had been critical of throughout his NBA career to the point of genuine malice and hatred. Specifically, he gave him a piece of passionate advice, one which O’Neal had received from his own psychologist.
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Notoriously, Shaq and Dwight haven’t had a great relationship. Despite their connection to the Magic and the nickname “Superman”, the two big men never saw eye-to-eye. Howard sought O’Neal as a mentor, but Shaq was unwilling and his responses didn’t mesh well with Dwight’s personality.
It took plenty of years in the making, but the two agreed to put their differences aside. The four-time NBA champion revealed that his criticism came as a form of tough love. He wanted to light a fire under Howard. The reasoning was that O’Neal went through what Howard did.
O’Neal revealed on The Big Podcast that he went through the same struggles as Howard. As a result, the Lakers paired him with a nuclear psychologist. He shared those words with the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, words he claimed saved his life.
“I get with the nuclear psychologist and he tells me, ‘You got to stop caring,'” O’Neal said. “The day I stopped caring, my career took off.”
Shaq let so many different variants impact his mental and his play style. He wanted to live up to the expectations of others but was wary of the criticism from fans and the media. His psychologist made it clear to him that it would be impossible to succeed trying to mend all of those factors.
Up until that point, his career was living proof that his psychologist was right. Moving forward, O’Neal changed his mindset and became a different beast due to it. He took any sort of criticism from legendary players as fuel to the fire.
In an ideal world, O’Neal would provide that same motivation to Howard, but that wasn’t the case. He never wanted to butt heads with the rising star but his style of leadership didn’t resonate with Howard. However, if he were Howard’s vet, he would’ve ensured his message came across correctly.
Thankfully, the two can talk together and laugh about the past. Howard and O’Neal acknowledge each other as legends of their time. Dwight might’ve failed to live up to O’Neal’s expectations, but he still finished with a Hall-of-Fame career. An achievement which Shaq is certainly proud of.
