"Delete my tweets" - Former Lakers player reverts from shade thrown at Nikola Jokic for bagging third MVP
Former LA Lakers big man Dwight Howard backtracked from his tweets about Nikola Jokic winning his third NBA MVP award. Howard thought that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have won it this season but changed his tune on how he tweeted after watching Shaquille O'Neal's viral video.
In a tweet, Howard explained why he had to delete a couple of tweets regarding his thoughts on "The Joker." He doesn't want to be like Shaq, who told Jokic in an interview on "Inside the NBA" that SGA should have been the MVP.
"I saw that video of Superman, and I had to delete my tweets because I can't be like that! I'm proud of Jokić! Im just saying now you gotta say he top 5 all time! 3 MVPs? Shai had my vote, but he a killer! So I know he'll be back next year," Howard wrote.
What were Dwight Howard's deleted tweets about Nikola Jokic?
Dwight Howard deleted a couple of tweets related to his thoughts about Nikola Jokic becoming a three-time NBA MVP. One of the tweets was about calling for Batman because "The Joker" was stealing the award.
The other deleted tweet mentioned Joel Embiid, who was the runner-up on Jokic's 2021 and 2022 MVP wins. Howard felt that Embiid got robbed in one of those years while also saying that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander suffered the same fate.
SGA finished second in MVP voting, receiving 15 first-place votes compared to Jokic's 79. The OKC Thunder star had a total of 640 total points, behind Jokic's 926. Luka Doncic came in third followed by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jalen Brunson.
What did Shaquille O'Neal say about Nikola Jokic?
The main reason why Dwight Howard retracted his tweets about Nikola Jokic was Shaquille O'Neal's viral video.
Shaq told Jokic that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the MVP award just minutes after Charles Barkley had announced that the Denver Nuggets superstar is now a three-time Michael Jordan Award winner.
"Joker as the president of the Big Man Alliance – you are the vice president of the Big Man Alliance – you know I love you. The best player in the league, I want to congratulate you. I want you to hear it from me first, I thought SGA should have been the MVP. That's no disrespect to you, but congratulations," O'Neal said.
A lot of fans were shocked by Shaq's comments because it came out as bitter from one of the greatest players ever. Some fans even pointed out that the LA Lakers legend is still fuming that he came second in MVP voting when Steve Nash won the award in 2005.
For those who don't know, as great as Shaq was, he only won the league MVP once, in 2000. He has four NBA championships and three NBA Finals MVPs on his resume, though.