Dwight Howard Reflects on His Rivalry With Shaquille O’Neal
Dwight Howard is looking back on his NBA journey, including his reconciliation with Shaquille O’Neal.
The beef seemingly stemmed from the two being compared to each other when Howard was drafted to the league in 2004.
The eight-time NBA All-star champion went on “The Gauds Show” earlier this year, recalling how he didn’t know why the feud even existed.
“He always thought I was trying to be him or be like him,” he began.
“If I wanted to be like you, shouldn’t you take that as a compliment and to show how great you are as a player and a person? I never wanted to be Shaq at any level, but did I want to take certain things in his life for my life? Hell yeah. I do this with Michael Jordan or Lebron James – I can use that and make myself better.”
In a recent interview with “Scoop B Selects,” Howard recalls their reconciliation and confirms the interaction wasn’t staged.
“I don’t think none of it was for cameras,” he began.
“The beef? I mean, I guess it was real as far as him disliking what I was doing and me disliking him hating on me or whatever you want to call it. But you gotta let bygones be bygones. My time in the NBA is over with, you know? We got the same jacket. We’re in the Hall of Fame, so we just have to respect each other.”
He then praised Shaq, sharing he would “always pay homage” to the NBA legend.
“I would never disrespect him and what he meant to the game,” he said.
Howard made an appearance on Shaq’s podcast, “Big Pod With Shaq,” where the retired Los Angeles Lakers legend shared how the two made amends.
“I'm at the bar and he just got his jersey retired. I'm sitting there and everybody think we were going to f*cking fight,” Shaq began.
“I'm sitting there and I got my back to the door. My boy with me, he's smoking. Dwight come up with this big swole, muscled dude and they stand behind me. I turn, I see Dwight and I’m like, 'Oh sh*t, we about to tear this sh*t up. 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?”
