Former Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has been one of the dominant players in recent NBA history. However, he’s now playing in Taiwan’s T1 league. He started his time in the league with a bang. Meanwhile, O’Neal, of course, is already a Hall of Famer, having retired from the NBA back in 2011. He won four NBA titles during his playing days and recorded 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He’s often named alongside other Lakers legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as one of the best big men in the history of the sport.
Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard have always shared a beef. That was the case during the seven seasons that their NBA careers overlapped, and things haven’t improved at all in recent years. Shaq has continually criticized his fellow former Magic and Lakers center, especially as Howard, 37, has opted to continue his career in the Taiwanese T1 League.
“You should never be complimented for being a good father because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?” he said on The Big Podcast a few days later. “He’s supposed to have 30 points playing against dudes 5’8”.”
Unfortunately for Howard and the Leopards, wins have been hard to come by since that debut. Per Asia-Basket, the Leopards lost their next 10 games after Howard’s debut. The team has won back-to-back games in February to push its record to 3–11 on the season.
It is noted that Shaq is very amused by that fact.
“. . . They have a losing record. . . Somebody sent me that they have a losing record. I ain’t losing to anybody in Taiwan, I’ll tell you that,” he said during his podcast on Thursday. “How do you have a losing record in Taiwan? Come on now.”
Howard sent O’Neal a lengthy message asking him to “stop hating” and being “disrespectful” of the T1 League after Shaq’s November diss while on Instagram Live. After a 3–11 start to the year, it will be interesting to see if Howard sticks up for himself again.
