Dwight Howard was a dominant force during his first nine years in the NBA, especially the eight years he spend with the Orlando Magic, team that went to the Finals in 2009 only to lose to the late Kobe Bryant.
During that span, Howard was a 7-time All-Star, 8 times All NBA, 5 times All-NBA 1st team, a top 5 MVP four times, had six playoff appearances with three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Dwight played for the Los Angeles Lakers three times (2012-2013, 2019-2020 and 2021-2022) and even though he showed a lot of promise during his first two stints with the team, he was only able to win one championship coming off the bence in a squad lead by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
What was constant during Howard’s NBA career was the harsh criticism he received from NBA and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal, who called out Dwight’s performance and demeanor, accusing him of lacking authenticity and grit.
Howard challenges O’Neal to a fight
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 ‘Diesel’s’ constantly taking shots at him publicly and he also revealed that he almost went to TNT studios to confront Shaq.
“I 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?’.”
Howard went on to say that the only thing he 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.”
The former Orlando Magic’s No. 1 pick in 2004 mentioned the fact that he does not talk about O’Neal online because ‘Diesel’s’ family and friends can see that and he’s not going to disrespect Shaq 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.”
