Shaquille O'Neal stokes beef with Dwight Howard as he flexes NBA rings to reject fight challenge
The Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard beef just doesn't seem to end. The former NBA stars have been going back and forth on social media for years. After pressing the pause button for a significant amount of time, Howard threw the first shot to reignite the beef on Saturday.
Howard took to X and challenged the LA Lakers legend to a fight.
"Shaq wassup🥊let’s make bread 😂," Howard posted.
In his response, the four-time NBA champion called Howard out for his lack of rings. He also shut down the "Superman" beef and set the record straight.
"Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like @RobGronkowski, and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy," Shaq tweeted.
The "Superman" beef started after O'Neal called out Howard in September for using the Superman nickname. He argued that Howard couldn't call himself "Superman" as he only had one ring and was a roleplayer when he won it.
Howard then argued that he never called himself "Superman" and it was the fans who did. He said that his nickname was Deebo and accused O'Neal of blocking him. Howard added that there was no Superman in the league and O'Neal's reaction was petty.
Shaquille O'Neal refused to say Dwight Howard's name on Television
Shaquille O'Neal made his feelings towards Dwight Howard known when he refused to say his name on TV. During the "He better than me?" segment of TNT's "Inside the NBA," O'Neal's co-host Ernie Johnson Jr. asked him who the Orlando Magic's all-time leading scorer is.
Instead of responding normally, O'Neal wrote down Howard's name on a piece of paper. The 15-time All-Star then looked in the opposite direction when he he held it up for his co-hosts.
Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard both started their NBA careers with the Orlando Magic. However, Howard stayed with the franchise four years longer. He leads the Magic in most points scored with 11,435, while O'Neal is in sixth place with 8,019 points.