Dwight Howard is out of the NBA, still living rent-free in Shaq’s head
By Ian Levy
Dwight Howard is overseas, playing basketball in Taiwan. But Shaq just can’t stop talking about him on every media platform available.
Dwight Howard spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 6.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The 37-year-old big man wasn’t able to find a new NBA team this offseason and landed with the Taoyuan Leopards of the Taiwan Basketball League.
As Shaquille O’Neal delighted in pointing out, the signing hasn’t exactly been a big win for the Leopards. Howard is averaging 24.1 points, 14.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 blocks per game but the Leopards are at the bottom of the standings, with a 3-11 record.
On a special episode of Inside the NBA, Shaq talked with Candace Parker and celebrated the fact that Howard’s new team is piling up losses.
"“They have a losing record. Somebody sent me they have a losing record. I ain’t losing to nobody in Taiwan how about that. How do you have a losing record in Taiwan? Come on now. You can’t have no losing record in Taiwan.”"
Why does Shaq hate Dwight Howard so much?
Shaq has had it in for Howard for years, a beef that seems to go back to disagreement over who is the rightful owner of the Superman nickname. Over the past decade, he’s taken every opportunity to put down Howard, call out his mistakes and revel in his failures.
Howard certainly has his warts as a player but he’s also a no-question, Hall-of-Famer with more rebounds and steals than O’Neal, and a better career free-throw percentage. He also won half of their 12 career head-to-head matchups, outscoring and outrebounding Shaq in those games.
However, when Shaq was 37, he wasn’t playing overseas. He was playing in 53 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.
But who was better is largely irrelevant. Howard is still making money to play basketball and getting to see the world. As long as he’s happy and enjoying himself, it shouldn’t really matter what Shaq thinks.
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