Dwight Howard has confirmed that his long-standing tension with Shaquille O’Neal is officially over.
In an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Howard emphasized that their reconciliation was genuine and not staged for cameras.
“The beef? I mean, I guess it was real as far as him disliking what I was doing and me disliking him hating on me,” Howard said. “But you gotta let bygones be bygones. My time in the NBA is over with, you know?”
Howard noted that both he and O’Neal are Hall of Famers and that mutual respect now defines their relationship. “Shaq came before me and a lot of the bigs, so we always pay homage to the ones that came before us,” he added.
O’Neal addressed the situation publicly during the BIG3 playoffs, clarifying past misunderstandings. “He thought I generally disliked him. I told him, ‘No, that’s not the case,’” O’Neal said.
The two centers have been compared throughout their careers, as both used size, athleticism, and defensive dominance to impact games. Howard led the Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, including an upset of LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and three-time Finals MVP, was often questioned about Howard’s place among elite centers, which fueled speculation about tension between them.
Howard stressed that off the court, their relationship is different from their on-court rivalry. “Away from basketball, man to man is different from on the court, and all in all I respect him and I’m glad we had an opportunity to talk,” he said.
