Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal have had a love-hate relationship for the longest time. From beefing over who is the real Superman to O’Neal presenting Howard at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Howard and O’Neal have developed a lot of respect for each other.
Therefore, when CBS dropped Shaquille O’Neal to the Quarter-Century Second Team, Howard did not approve. He took screenshots of the ranking and posted them on X to call out the teams. Dwight Howard believes O’Neal belongs in the place of Nikola Jokic on the first team.
“Put Shaq first team,” wrote Howard on X with the screenshots.
According to CBS’s NBA Staff, the All Quarter Century First team includes:
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: LeBron James
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Nikola Jokic
Their Second team has:
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Shaquille O’Neal
And their Third team comprised:
PG: Steve Nash
SG: James Harden
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Dwight Howard
Let’s analyze if Jokic deserves that spot on the first team instead of Shaquille O’Neal. In terms of championships, of course, O’Neal is ahead, but in terms of individual accomplishments, Jokic may have inched himself ahead.
Jokic has three regular-season MVP awards (2021,2022, and 2024), as compared to O’Neal’s one (2000). Jokic finished second behind Joel Embiid and Gilgeous-Alexander, respectively, in the 2023 and 2025 NBA seasons, while O’Neal arguably only lost his MVP award once to Steve Nash in the 2004-05 season.
While O’Neal has three Finals MVPs, he took six attempts to do that (five in the last quarter-century). Meanwhile, Jokic has the same award in his one appearance in the NBA Finals (in 2023).
While O’Neal dominated the paint, he had a major weakness that opponents often exploited. His free-throw shooting became the Achilles Heel of his career at one point. On the contrary, Jokic has absolutely no weaknesses that can be heavily exploited. He is a more complete player who contributes in all the columns of the box score.
O’Neal averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks for his career. Jokic has averaged 21.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists so far in his career. While O’Neal was a bigger defensive presence, Jokic can also defend well inside the paint.
Another noteworthy point is that O’Neal has previously ranked Jokic ahead of himself in the Top-five centers of all-time.
Therefore, in my opinion, a player with an exploitable weakness can not come ahead of a three-level scorer with many more skills than just size. Hence, CBS is right in putting Jokic over O’Neal on the First Team. Do you agree with my analysis? Let us know in the comments section.
