Ball Around

Shaquille O'Neal Throws Shade at Dwight Howard, Continuing Longtime Beef

Matt Levine

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Over the weekend, former NBA star center Shaquille O'Neal announced that he wanted to get into the boxing ring against former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski. This came during the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyron fight, leading to much speculation about the possibility of it happening.

O'Neal also mentioned that he wanted to start something that would pit the NBA against the NFL. Doing this could be lucrative for O'Neal while drawing in high levels of viewership.

Former NBA center Dwight Howard weighed in on the status of this, showing interest in partaking if it ever were to occur. But given the longtime beef that Howard and O'Neal have had, it seemed unlikely.

Howard sent a social media message to O'Neal showing his interest. But O'Neal returned the favor by throwing shade at Howard, continuing the longtime feud between the two former stars.

"Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like , and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy,"

Much of this feud between the two former NBA stars goes back to their playing days when the two were compared. Both players were originally drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in their respective drafts.

Both players went to the NBA Finals with the Magic and lost. Then both players left the Magic for the Los Angeles Lakers to pursue a much better chance of winning a title.

Howard and O'Neal were deemed as two of the better big men to ever play the game so it's only natural that they would be compared. They both also have larger-than-life personalities, leading to fans being drawn in whenever they do pretty much anything.

The two were also nicknamed Superman, with Howard taking on the role during the 2008 NBA All-Star game. He appeared at the Slam Dunk Contest in a Superman t-shirt, wearing a cape as well.

O'Neal wasn't happy with the move and from there, the rivalry started. After his playing days, O'Neal criticized Howard's game on countless occasions.

Howard finally won a title with the Lakers in 2020 but O'Neal doesn't believe it's enough to warrant him entering the ring. This beef seems to be going strong, with O'Neal leading the charge against Howard.

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

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