Shaquille O’Neal-Dwight Howard beef, explained: Why decades-long feud reached social media, again

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Nearly 14 years after they last met on an NBA floor, the personal rivalry between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard is somehow stronger than ever. Though recent developments may suggest the feud may be over.

O’Neal recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to say he would never bring Howard’s name up again, a response to Howard’s comments on a podcast. This is the latest chapter of a longstanding feud between the two all-time greats who share more than a few career parallels.

What is the story behind O’Neal and Howard’s beef? Here’s more on the feud that dates back nearly 20 years.

Shaquille O’Neal-Dwight Howard beef, explained

Origins of the feud date back to October 2012, though things had been bubbling for a while. O’Neal sent not-so-subtle shots during the early days of X when it was still known as Twitter.

During the peak of his powers, Superman was one of O’Neal’s many nicknames. After Dwight Howard wore a Superman cape during the 2008 NBA Dunk Contest in New Orleans, many began to refer to him as the new Superman.

O’Neal clearly did not like that. Fresh into retirement, O’Neal began his post-playing career as an NBA analyst. One of his first bold takes was that Brook Lopez was a better center than Howard, who was coming off of his fifth consecutive All-NBA First Team selection.

“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard said in response. “Shaq played the game. He’s done. He’s gone. It’s time to move on. He hated the fact, you know, that when he played, the older guys were talking about him and how he played, and now he’s doing the exact same thing. Just let it go.”

And while some of those quotes seem spicy, Howard did add that O’Neal is “one of the most dominant players that ever played the game” before saying, “Just sit back and relax. You did your thing. Your time is up.”

According to O’Neal, his stance was a motivational tactic, but he continued to push Howard’s buttons from there.

Over the next several years, O’Neal often reminded people that “there is only one Superman” while Howard continued his career.

In 2016, O’Neal posted a photoshopped image of himself dunking on Howard along with the caption, “There can only be 1 Superman !!! #ME”

With his platform as a TNT analyst, O’Neal would often go out of his way to send more jabs Howard’s way. Social media was a tool he used to do the same thing, sometimes unprompted.

Both Howard and O’Neal are centers who were selected first overall by the Magic and led the franchise to the NBA Finals losses. Both players also made the next steps of their respective careers as members of the Lakers.

And, of course, both players were called Superman.

While Howard didn’t necessarily ask for the parallels, he also didn’t avoid them with his Superman moniker. After winning a title with the Lakers in 2020, Howard made a few more NBA stops before returning to LA for what was likely his final NBA season in 2021-22.

In 2024, Howard and O’Neal engaged in a back-and-forth on Instagram in which Howard claimed to be blocked on the social media platform.

“Who blocks someone over a nickname owned by Warner [B]rothers,” Howard commented. “There is no REAL Superman it sound petty.”

Inspired by the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight, Howard also attempted to break the ice by suggesting to O’Neal that they could squabble things out in the ring. You could probably guess how that turned out.

That brings us to 2025.

During an appearance on The Gauds Show, Howard gave his theory about the roots of O’Neal’s disdain. Seemingly confused, Howard even said that he wonders if O’Neal wants to settle things with fisticuffs.

That two-minute clip is what prompted O’Neal to return to X and fire up the latest back-and-forth.

Howard returned to X to extend an olive branch to O’Neal, inviting him on a podcast to hash things out.

O’Neal, however, does not seem too interested in breaking bread.

At this point, we’re nearing 20 years of jabs between the two. There may not be any chance to fix whatever type of relationship could have existed between the all-time greats.