Dwight Howard fires back at Shaquille O’Neal’s beef with savage 1-emoji retort

The ongoing rivalry between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard shows no signs of ending. These two legendary big men have been exchanging jabs on social media. Most recently, Howard responded to a tweet from Shaq about him.

During a recent installment of “The Big Pod,”Shaquille O’Neal was joined by former Sixth Man of The Year Jamal Crawford. In a discussion touching on a larger story about O’Neal’s supposed dislike for Howard, Shaq expressed his desire to improve his basketball career.

“All I said about the young fella was, ‘He needs to average 28 & 15.’ I don’t know how it got to ‘He don’t like me!’” Shaq said.

Howard saw the post by NBA Central on X and responded to it with a cap emoji.

The long-standing animosity between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard can be traced back to the moment when Howard proclaimed himself as “Superman,”a title that O’Neal believed was only fitting for himself.

In addition, Shaq mocked Howard for releasing an emotional video upon winning his first and only championship in 2020.

Despite mentioning Howard for a long time, Shaq also expressed his respect for him in the same episode.

Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard: Mutual Respect and Admiration

During a recent episode of the “From the Point”podcast, Atlanta Hawks player Trae Young welcomed Shaquille O’Neal as a guest.

In the podcast, Shaq disclosed that whenever he has offered criticism towards Howard or spoken about him, it is because he genuinely cares about him.

“If I mention your name, it means I love you and I respect you. I used to love Dwight; he did something I couldn’t do. I wish I could jump that high,”O’Neal said.

“I love Dwight Howard – a lot of people don’t know that. This is my first time saying that.”

Shaq’s comment caught the notice of the former Defensive Player of The Year. Howard responded to the statement, suggesting that they resolve their differences like adults and put an end to the feud.

“I never had a problem with you so can we finally end this as adults,”Howard tweeted.

Despite his brief stint with the Lakers during the 2021-22 season, Howard has not played in the NBA. He did, however, play briefly in the Philippines and famously joked about playing for the country’s national team in the 2024 Olympics if he was not selected by Team USA.

Currently, he is a member of the Mets de Guaynabo team in the Baloncesto Superior National League in Puerto Rico.