Shaquille O’Neal graciously accepts Dwight Howard’s request to introduce him at Hall of Fame induction: “That’s my guy”

Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard have had a well-publicized feud for over a decade, but will now put an end to it.

Shaquille O’Neal graciously accepts Dwight Howard’s request to introduce him at Hall of Fame induction: “That’s my guy”

Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard's beef ends

The two greatest players in Orlando Magic history have not had the best of relationships, to say the least. While Shaquille O’Neal was still in the NBA, he believed Dwight Howard was ‘jacking his swag’ by using his ‘Superman’ nickname.

O’Neal’s resentment grew further as Howard would make deep playoff runs while seeming coasting on his athletic gifts. Following his retirement and subsequent new career start as a TNT analyst, O’Neal became one of the big man’s biggest critics. O’Neal was pointedly a hater on many occasions while also openly stating that he wasn’t ready to give up the Superman nickname.

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Even after Howard’s NBA tenure came to an end, O’Neal refused to give up on bringing his name up. What O’Neal seemed to be very peeved by was Howard not delivering on the potential he had displayed. In his defense, many of his critiques were absolutely on point. Drafted straight out of high school, Dwight Howard had never played organized high-level offensive basketball before the NBA.

He was thrust into a volume scoring role very early on a team depending on his superstar ceiling. Even though Howard would go on to seek the help of Hakeem Olajuwon during his Houston sojourn, he never built a skillset to be a reliable scorer from anywhere except the post region, where he was also inefficient from.

Nonetheless, the feud took too many ugly turns that could easily have been avoided at all times. There was a lot of name-calling and deplorable behavior, mainly from O’Neal’s side. At one point, Howard even floated the idea of a celebrity boxing match to settle scores.

However, with news of his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction as a first ballot selection, Howard made the best possible move to bury the hatchet, inviting his own idol to introduce him at his enshrinement.

Entrusted with such an honor alongside a peer like Kevin Garnett and the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, O’Neal simply couldn’t say no. Speaking on his own podcast platform, Shaq accepted the proposal from Howard.

That’s awesome. I’ll do it. I’ll be there. Of course, he’s my guy!

Shaquille O’Neal on introducing Dwight Howard at his Hall of Fame enshrinement

Dwight Howard has expressed his gratitude at O’Neal’s decision to grant him the blessing with a tweet.

Shaquille O’Neal deciding to honor Dwight Howard is a sign of his growth

All that people outside of basketball fans know about O’Neal is about him being a staple of the game and a philanthropist who helps people. They might know of his beef with Kobe Bryant in passing, given the cultural impact that the two Lakers icons have had.

O’Neal has always expressed his immense regret for not reconnecting with Bryant at a close, personal level before his untimely death. Bryant had infamously demanded that O’Neal be traded away from the Lakers. While the two had their own ESPN sitdown to talk about their differences after their retirements, O’Neal categorically stated at Bryant’s memorial that he would’ve liked to have kept him closer.

Perhaps the realization of his latter phase of life kicking in is helping O’Neal see sense in burying his bad blood with Howard. What the two have said about each other and the way they’ve acted has not helped basketball culture. Seeing the best of each other and drawing it out would be a great way to help move the game beyond.