Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard’s beef has reignited lately, and it doesn’t look like it will end soon. The duo has been beefing since Howard’s days in the NBA on and off-court. In their latest fight, Howard accused O’Neal of hindering his progress, but the latter replied that there were no opportunities to block him from in the first place. There has also been a lot of back-and-forth on X, formerly Twitter, as the NBA stars continue to attack each other.
Dwight Howard Calls Out Shaquille O’Neal
O’Neal and Howard recently revived their long-time beef, and things don’t look good. Their latest exchange saw them accusing each other, with O’Neal calling his fellow LA Laker names. On Monday, January 6, 2025, Howard went on Ray Daniels’ Podcast, discussing his beef with O’Neal.
“At this point, I’m like, ‘Do we need to throw hands?’ What are we doing?” he asked.
Howard revealed that he had previously reached out to O’Neal to resolve their dispute but received no response. He told Daniels:
“And that was the thing that I hated the most is the fact that he always thought I was tryna be him or be like him, but again, if I wanted to be you or be like you, shouldn’t you take that as a compliment and to show how great you are as a player and a person?”
Howard added that he wanted to imitate certain things about the 52-year-old sports analyst and other players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and LeBron James to become better.
“I see how Magic Johnson smile all the time. I want to smile,” he said.
Shaquille O’Neal Calls Dwight Howard a Peon
While on Ray Daniels’ podcast, Dwight Howard also claimed that O’Neal was intentionally blocking him from accessing opportunities behind the scenes. However, after Onsite reported the event on its Instagram page, O’Neal caught wind of it and slid into the comment section. “Cap,” he responded at first. The former professional basketball player replied with a second comment challenging Howard’s claims.
“I don’t beef with peons and u have no opportunities,” he wrote.
O’Neal And Howard Beef Explained
Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard have been beefing for a long time. Their enmity can be traced back to Howard adopting the Superman persona, which O’Neal popularly embraced. Since then, the Orlando Magic star has had it out for Howard. Their recent animosity began after O’Neal messaged Howard and the Lakers during the episode of his podcast. However, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year asked O’Neal on X to “stop sending messages.” A vexed O’Neal then replied to Howard on the same platform.
He called the latter a “jokester that can’t take a joke” and a “sensitive big man” for thinking he cared about him. Shaquille O’Neal also promised never to say Dwight Howard’s name “ever again” and used a bunch of hashtags, including #inevercared,’ ‘#stayoffpodcasts,’ and ‘#nowyouredeadtome.’
Howard Calls O’Neal Jealous
Dwight Howard, who reportedly tied the knot recently, didn’t hesitate to fire back a reply. He wrote on the media platform:
“I know you care, cuz yo insecure a** been hating and talking s**** for 20 years. You to big to be this insecure,” he said. “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, [former Magic teammate Anfernee Hardaway], [former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade]. You jealous of [TNT co-host Charles Barkley] too.”
Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard’s beef keeps getting worse. Hopefully, the duo will resolve their dispute soon or at least keep a professional front.
#Clique, what do you think about the ongoing feud between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal? Let us know in the comments.
