If you know anything about the relationship between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal, you know that there is no love lost between the two big men. Shaq won four NBA championships throughout his career and is considered one of the most dominant centers to ever play the game. Howard is still in search of his first ring but has already established himself as a premier center at the young age of 25. While both big men started their careers with the same organization, they just can’t seem to get along.
In a recent interview with The New Orleans Times-Picayune that the Orlando Sentinel passed along on Monday, Shaq decided to throw some more verbal jabs toward the giant they call Superman. This time, Shaq insisted Dwight is only able to dominate the game because there are no great centers left in the NBA.
“If Dwight doesn’t win two or three championships, I’m going to be disappointed,” Shaq said. “He doesn’t have nobody. When I came in the league, I had to go through Alonzo Mourning, Arvydas Sabonis, Kevin Duckworth, Rik Smits. Now I can’t name any other centers besides Kendrick Perkins and Andrew Bynum. Who else is there? That’s it.”
Then, Shaq did something that he has done in the past — call Howard out about his nickname.
“But my thing is if you want to call yourself me (Superman), then you’ve got big shoes to fill,” he continued. “I’m not in the Superman this, and Superman that. He won a dunk contest with a cape. If you want to be called Superman because of that, it’s fine with me. I’m Superman for other reasons.
“I don’t envy him; he’s a great young player. But I’ve never seen him dog another center out. I tried to dog centers out. I went at David Robinson.”
Shaq speaks like a man with a voice in his head who is telling him to watch out for Dwight Howard. Perhaps it was Stan Van Gundy accusing O’Neal of flopping against Dwight that got him riled up, but no one is claiming Howard is a better center or will be a better center than Shaq. He may be right about there being less competition in the NBA at the center position, but there is nothing Howard can do about that. You can’t prove yourself against something that isn’t there.
The real motive behind Shaq calling out Howard yet again: Making sure he doesn’t fade from the spotlight.
