Shaquille O’Neal, more lovingly referred to as ‘Shaq’, is a world-famous TV personality along with being one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. His main gig right now is working on TNT’s NBA show with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.
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O’Neal has become known to beef with modern era players, especially ones who played center like he did. He has often in the past used his platform and reputation to bring down others, rather than raise them up and praise them for helping continue to trend of great big men in the NBA.
One of the most prolific players O’Neal beefed with publicly was Dwight Howard, who donned the moniker of Superman, a nickname Shaq often went by, which caused tension between the two. While it is believed Howard wasn’t trying to start any beef, it lasted throughout the rest of his career.
Now with Howard being inducted into the Hall of Fame, apparently the beef has simmered down enough to where O’Neal is willing to walk Howard out on stage during the Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony.
“I’ll do it, I’ll be there… that’s my guy,” Shaq said in response to this Howard tweet:
I want KG , Shaq, and Kareem to walk me out 🙏🏾 #hof
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) April 5, 2025
The two NBA greats had been beefing as recently as earlier this year, but it seems whatever tension was between them has at least been somewhat squashed, which will allow this moment to happen. As one of the great big men of the current generation of players, it would be a fun moment to see some of the past great big men walk Howard out for his Hall-of-Fame induction.
Howard was never the prolific scorer that Shaq was, but he was elite in his own way. For his career, he averaged 15.7 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, 1.8 blocks per game, and shot a whopping 59 percent from the field.
At the peak of his career, he was consistently in the running for defensive player of the year, including winning the award three straight times from 2008-2010. He made the All-NBA first team five straight seasons, finishing in the top seven in MVP voting each of those years.
While he never quite recovered his peak form from his final seasons with the Orlando Magic, he remained a good center for the rest of his career until he played his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021-22 season.
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Interestingly, Howard’s career trajectory was relatively similar to O’Neal’s. He was a highly touted center prospect drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick, and went on to play for multiple teams, including the Lakers.
Until the actual enshrinement ceremony in September, a lot can change, and something could reignite the beef, but for now, the two NBA greats seem to be on better terms.
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