The Shaq-Howard feud has turned into a full-fledged war.
Responding to comments made by Shaquille O’Neal last week, Dwight Howard told the former Lakers center to pipe down and not worry about his style of play.
“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard told The Los Angeles Times. “Shaq played the game and he is done. It’s time to move on. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up.”
O’Neal, who will have his number retired by the Lakers in April, ripped Howard for not having many moves in the post outside of working off of a pick-and-roll or flashy dunks. O’Neal ranked the new Lakers big man behind the Nets’ Brook Lopez and the player Los Angeles traded away to obtain Howard, Andrew Bynum.
“I’m not talking about dunking, I’m talking about playing like a big man with moves,” O’Neal said to NBA.com. “My man [Lopez], before he had the foot injury, was putting up nice, solid big-man numbers. He don’t have a lot of flash, a la Tim Duncan, but he can play. But for me, the last true original, I’m going with Andrew Bynum and [Lopez].”
Lopez averaged a career high 20.4 points per game in his last full season, 2010-11, but also averaged a career-low six rebounds. Lopez played in just five games for the Nets last season after suffering a broken foot in the preseason.
Howard, on the other hand, averaged 19.4 points and 13.7 rebounds in 54 games for the Magic last season. Bynum averaged career highs in both scoring (18.7) and rebounding (11.8) last year as well.
Howard critiqued O’Neal and called him out for doing exactly what the Big Nostradamus hated while he was playing.
“He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he’s doing the exact same thing,” Howard said. “When my time is up, there’s going to be somebody else who can do everything I can do and probably do it better. Instead of me talking about him, I’ll do my job to try to help him get where I’m at. I think that’s what guys who have done it before us should do.”
The Lakers pulled off a massive four-team, 12 player deal to land Howard this past August. Howard became the latest superstar center to join the Lakers, following O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.