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Old grudges truly die hard, as evidenced by Shaq’s latest shot at Dwight Howard in what’s become a decade-plus-old beef.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Shaq explained that he knew it was time to retire from the NBA when he began putting up “Dwight Howard” numbers, such as 9 points in a game.
“When I had to pump fake to dunk,” Shaq told seemingly full-time podcast guest Bert Kreischer after he asked what about his body let him know that it as time to retire.
“When I pumped faked for the dunk and I look at the stats, I had nine points. I’m like, ‘This ain’t f—— Shaq, this is Dwight Howard.’”
Shaq says he knew he was washed up when he started putting up Dwight Howard numbers
“I look at the stats, I had 9 points. I'm like, 'This ain't fu****g Shaq, this is Dwight Howard.”
(🎥 @bigpodwithshaq / https://t.co/HWZBZnc8nx) pic.twitter.com/SHQV5u16rQ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 20, 2024
Considered one of the most dominant players in NBA history, Shaq’s points-per-game average dipped below 20 for the first time in 2006-07 with the Miami Heat.
From there, Shaq would go on to spend two seasons in Phoenix with the Suns, one in Cleveland with the Cavs, and his final year in Boston with the Celtics, in which he averaged 9.2 points per game.
As for Howard, he only averaged more than 20 points per game four times during his 18-year-long NBA career, which was spent with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers.
Shaq and Dwight Howard’s beef began at the 2008 NBA Dunk Contest as Howard showed up to the event wearing a Superman shirt, which Shaq took offense to because Superman is one of the many nicknames he gave himself over the years.
Their beef runs so deep, in fact, that there’s a video on YouTube titled “Shaq Roasting Dwight Howard For 4 Minutes Straight” that has over 125,000 views.