Dwight Howard has once again reignited his beef with Shaquille O’Neal and said the pair should “go ahead and squabble” if it comes to that.
“Never disrespected him,” Howard said of Shaq on The GAUDs Show. “But he’s always had something to say. There’s times where I’ve gotten upset and I’m like, ‘Yo, Shaq, this gotta stop, man.’ I tried to [talk to him].”
Dwight then explained how when he was competing on Dancing With the Stars last year he met someone close to Shaq who suggested they settle their beef once and for all.
“At this point, I’m like, ‘Do we need to throw hands? What are we doing?’, Dwight said. “Because I have not ever — for me, the only thing I’ve done with Shaq is mimic his voice. But what else can I mimic him about? He’s Shaquille O’Neal, he’s the most dominant center ever. But again, he keeps saying stuff about me. So it’s like, ‘Hey bro, do we really need to go ahead and squabble?’”
He continued, “That’s the thing that I hate the most is the fact that he always thought I was trying to be him or be like him,” Howard said. “But again, if I wanted to be you or be like you, shouldn’t you take that as a compliment and to show how great you are as a player or a person? I ain’t never wanted to be Shaq at any level. Now, have I wanted to take certain things from him, his life and implement in my life? Hell yeah. I do that with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, all these people.”
Shaq saw Howard’s comments and responded on X, vowing to never bring up Howard’s name again.
“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,” Shaq wrote Monday on X. “Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now u have been deleted. Have a great day.”
Dwight replied on X, still claiming Shaq is jealous of NBA stars.
“I know you care. Cuz yo insecure ass been hating and talking s–t for 20 years,” Howard wrote. “You to[o] 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. Jealous of Kobe [Bryant], Penny [Hardaway], [Dwyane Wade]. You jealous of Charles [Barkley] too.
“Go move around big lazy insecure ass. I still have that long 5 Paragraph direct message you sent me a couple 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.”