When Dwight Howard stepped on stage for his Corridor of Fame enshrinement, he wasted no time addressing a well-known identify: Shaquille O’Neal.
The 2 shared one of many NBA’s longest-running and pettiest feuds, however Howard made it clear the rivalry is formally over.
“Shaq, we didn’t all the time see eye to eye, however in hindsight, I consider it was simply sibling rivalries,” Howard mentioned throughout his speech. “We’re brothers on this fraternity of basketball, and generally brothers struggle over the stupidest stuff. I actually blame Soulja Boy. However I simply need y’all to know the true, unique Superman is within the constructing, and it’s an honor to have you ever stroll me out on this enviornment of greatness.”
The feud stretched again to the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest, when Howard wore a cape with the Superman brand. O’Neal, the self-proclaimed “unique Superman,” believed Howard was attempting to steal his nickname.
The back-and-forth turned ugly through the years, with Shaq calling Howard a “bus rider” through the Lakers’ 2020 championship run, mocking his stint in Taiwan, and even suggesting he didn’t need to be within the Corridor of Fame.
Howard fired again by branding Shaq the “faux Superman” and at one level even difficult him to a boxing match.
However O’Neal, who introduced Howard on the ceremony, insisted the animosity was by no means actual.
“It wasn’t that we had an issue,” O’Neal informed NBA TV’s Dennis Scott. “You already know my management model, I discovered it from you. I’m onerous on guys to inspire them. Some folks can take it, some folks can’t. However after we met I informed him it’s by no means onerous emotions, I simply did that to make him offended. Every time I made him offended he performed properly.”
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