"That's why I put Dwight Howard through some things"- Shaquille O'Neal says he was tough on the former NBA star to make him great
Before the start of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night, TNT aired a sit-down interview between LA Lakers legends Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The interview titled “Tough Love: Shaq + Kareem” was described as the two legends “sitting down for the first time to resolve their differences.”
During their discussion, O’Neal brought up his long-time criticism of former Lakers center Dwight Howard. This comes after O’Neal regularly called out Howard throughout his career for his lack of effort and failure to reach his full potential:
“Can I confess something to you?” O’Neal said.
“Sure,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
“Wilt Chamberlain put you through some things. You put me through some things, and I thought it was a rite of passage. That’s why I put Dwight Howard through some things.”
O’Neal added that he was hard on Howard because he thought he could be a great player.
“He can be a great player, but it’s up to him,” O’Neal said.
“You just have to sometimes change your ways. First of all, if you’re bigger or stronger than everybody, you gotta dominate. I just thought it was just our thing.”
Howard averaged 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game on 58.7% shooting over 18 seasons with Orlando, LA, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington and Philadelphia. He is now playing for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s conversation about Dwight Howard starts at the 16:25 mark below.
Shaquille O’Neal on trying to win Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s approval
Earlier on in their discussion, Shaquille O’Neal told Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that early in his career, he just wanted to win his approval. O’Neal then told Abdul-Jabbar that he was very critical of him, however, O’Neal said that he appreciated it as it made him a better player:
“All I wanted from you was just, ‘You’re not concentrating, you’re not doing this.’ Which you did, you know, you did it. You did it in the paper, which actually made me more upset and helped me become a better player.
“But that’s all I ever wanted.”
O’Neal added that he has never had any issues with Abdul-Jabbar.
“You showed me respect and said I was never mad at you, which is true because one thing about my father, he’s just like you,” O’Neal said.
“He’s gonna say what’s on his mind whether you like it or not. And I respect that and I can handle that. It was never a problem.”
Abdul-Jabbar then told O’Neal that he was just happy to see him live up to his potential:
“I was absolutely thrilled to see you showing your potential.
“Because you could have got hurt. You know, something might have happened, and people might have never understood how good you were.”
Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s discussion starts at the 11:30 mark below:
Also read: "Everybody better be quiet" - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar warned the league for mocking Shaquille O'Neal after 1995 NBA Finals