Dwight Howard Wanted To Confront Shaquille O’Neal, Says He’s Tired Of The Shots

Dwight Howard spoke about his relationship with Shaquille O'Neal, and how tense things have gotten between the two.

5 Min Read

Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Dwight Howard recently appeared on the GAUDS show, where he addressed his long-standing beef with Shaquille O’Neal. He noted that he is very tired of Shaq constantly taking shots at him publicly. Their long-standing beef started, in Howard’s eyes, because O’Neal disrespected him and he felt that he had to respond. Dwight also revealed that he almost went to TNT studios to confront Shaq.

“That was the thing I hated the most. He always thought I was trying to be him. But if I wanted to be you or be like you, shouldn’t you take that as a compliment as to how great you are as a player and a person? I never wanted to be Shaq at any level. Have I wanted to take certain things from his life and implement it into my life?”

“Of course, I do that with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, all these people. Why because they all have certain things I could use and make myself better… Never disrespected him. He’s always had something to say. And there are times I’ve gotten upset and been like ‘Yo, Shaq, this has got to stop’… I was like ‘Do we need to throw hands?’.”

“The only thing I would do with Shaq is mimic his voice. But what else can I mimic him about?… You’re 50 years old… You continue to talk about me. I’m going to have to come to you. And it’s not violent. But it’s like ‘Ay man, what the f**k?’. We got family, we got kids.”

“Why don’t I talk about you online? Your family can see this. Your friends can see this… I’m not going to disrespect you as a man. But you keep doing it, so I’m gonna have to talk to you man to man. I was finna roll up to the studio and be like ‘Yo, what’s the deal?’… We’re still going on with the pettiness, at what point does it stop? Do you have a real issue? Let’s move past it… Sit down and have a conversation.”

Howard cut a frustrated figure during the interview, as this beef has clearly taken a toll on him over the years. Most recently, Shaquille O’Neal discredited Dwight Howard’s 2020 NBA championship win with the Lakers, calling him a ‘bus rider’. Despite the success, Shaq has continued to slander Howard at every turn.

In fact, Shaquille O’Neal took to social media to call out Howard once again, calling him a sensitive big man and trying to play off all of his negative comments about the former Orlando Magic star as jokes. He vowed to not say Dwight’s name ever again, and claimed that he had been ‘deleted’.

“Dwight Howard the fact you think I care about you is funny, but I won’t ever bring your name up again. A sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke. Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now you have been deleted. Have a great day.”

Dwight tried to physically confront him when he challenged him to a boxing match, but Shaq set a unique rule to make sure that the fight would never happen, which led to yet another uncomfortable exchange between the two.

Howard has stated in the recent past that O’Neal sent him some very disrespectful text messages. The air of contention between both of them has not softened over the years. If anything, their relationship has gotten even more contentious during this time. And until the two have a conversation, things are not going to get better any time soon.

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Aaditya Krishnamurthy is a writer for Fadeaway World covering the latest news and exciting stories from the fascinating world of the NBA. After briefly working as a freelance writer in the sports and business sector, Aaditya began writing for Fadeaway World in 2021 about the day-to-day functioning of the NBA.After graduating from Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts in 2020, he worked as a freelance writer for years before beginning his MA in Communications at Penn State University. Currently, he is in the United States, and traveling to his home country of India. Aside from the NBA, Aaditya is a big sports fan, with soccer, football, Formula 1, and MMA being some of his favorites to watch.
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