Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard’s longstanding feud continues, and the big men beef messier than ever.
You’ll think the Shaquille O’Neal-Dwight Howard beef is over? Think again, folks.
O’Neal and Howard, two of the game’s legendary big men, revived their decade-long dispute with these set of tweets.
Shaq fired back on Dwight just days after the latter admitted he was fed up with one of Inside the NBA’s host's constant shade throughout the years.
“Dwight Howard the fact u think I care about u is funny, but I won’t ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke. Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now u have been deleted. Have a great day,” the three-time champion,” O’Neal tweeted.
Shaq littered his post with a few hashtags, such as #inevercared, #trustme, #dontneedvalidationyoudo #stayoffpodcasts, #thefactyouthinkicareisfunny, #yougottashowrespecttogetrespect #nowyouredeadtome.
[Screenshot: X, formerly Twitter]
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year award responded and called O’Neal an “insecure person” and “jealous” of some of the NBA greats.
"I know you care. Cuz [your] insecure ass been hating and talking shit for 20 years. You [too] big to be this insecure. 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," Howard replied.
"Jealous of Kobe, Penny, D-Wade. You [are] jealous of Charles, too. It's 2025, grow up and move on," he added. "Go move around big lazy insecure ass. I still have that long five paragraph direct message you sent me a couple of years ago telling me that I'm not that great to hate."
"And you still doing it. It's 2025 grow the hell up, and move on."
Earlier, Dwight talked about in his recent guesting in the 'The GAUDS’ show that he is tired of Shaq’s constant tirades against him in public through the years.
"All right, Shaq, I just never disrespected. But he's always had something to say, and you know there are times where I got enough, and I'm like, yo Shaq just gotta stop," Howard said.
He added: "I hated the fact that he always thought I was trying to be him or be like him. But again, if I wanted to be you or be like him, shouldn't you take that as a compliment and show how great you are as a player and a person?"
The bad blood between the two can be traced back to 2008, particularly in the NBA Slam Dunk contest, when Howard pulled off a ridiculous dunk while donning a Superman costume that earned him the nickname of the beloved cartoon superhero.
Shaq did not appreciate the tag on Dwight, believing it was him first who made the term famous in which he even had a tattoo of Superman’s logo.
Howard also drew comparison with O’Neal, as both men were drafted. 1 overall in their respective draft class by the Orlando Magic before playing for the LA Lakers. Shaq won three titles in LaLa Land compared to Howard's one in 2020.
Dwight initially admired Shaq and often spoke highly of him early in his career but as the comparisons grew, so did the tension.
Big men, big beef, grab your popcorn, this is gonna take a while.