Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal have traded jabs in the public eye in recent years, and that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Howard recently appeared on Ray Daniels’ The GAUDs Show, and one topic they discussed happened to be Howard’s beef with O’Neal. In the interview, Howard revealed he “never wanted to be Shaq on any level,” but has utilized aspects of O’Neal’s work ethic into his game over the years.
“Never disrespected him,” Howard said about O’Neal. “But he’s always had something to say. There’s times where I’ve gotten upset and I’m like, ‘Yo, Shaq, this gotta stop, man.’ I tried to [talk to him].”
During his time on “Dancing With The Stars” this fall, Howard stated he was connected with someone close to O’Neal, and even attempted to arrange a meeting to hash out their issues.
“At this point, I’m like, do we need to throw hands?” Howard said. “What are we doing?”
As should come as no surprise, O’Neal took time to respond to Howard’s recent comments on social media.
“@DwightHoward the fact u think I care about u is funny, but I won’t ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke,” O’Neal posted on X. “Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now u have been deleted. Have a great day. #inevercared #trustme #dontneedvalidationyoudo #stayoffpodcasts #thefactyouthinkicareisfunny #yougottashowrespecttogetrespect #nowyouredeadtome”
On Tuesday, Howard decided to weigh in on O’Neal’s response in a post of his own on his X account.
“I know you care. Cuz yo insecure ass been hating and talking shit for 20 years. You too big to be this insecure,” Howard posted. “I hope you don’t bring my name up again. 52 years old tweeting me. And still hating. Now all this time you was joking. You always been jealous. Jealous of Kobe, Penny (Hardaway), [D-Wade]. You jealous of Charles (Barkley) too. Go move around big lazy insecure ass. I still have that long 5 Paragraph direct message you sent me a couple years ago telling me that I’m not that great to hate. And you still doing it. It’s 2025 grow the hell up. and move on.”
The back-and-forth has been a common theme between Howard and O’Neal over the years.
The two began bickering while O’Neal was still in the NBA, when Howard began using the Superman moniker after O’Neal had previously used it. Since that time, O’Neal has called out Howard for his play on the court.
In November 2022, O’Neal mocked Howard producing dominant performances during his time in Taiwan’s T1 League.
“You should never be complimented for being a good father because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?” O’Neal said in the 2022 interview. “He’s supposed to have 30 points playing against dudes (5-foot-8).”
O’Neal also went on to compare Taiwan’s T1 League to a “Life Time Fitness league.”
The two have gone back-and-forth time and time again, and their feud doesn’t appear to ending anytime soon.
