Dwight Howard Opens Up on ‘Making Peace’ with Shaquille O’Neal

Former Los Angeles Laker center Dwight Howard opened up on his relationship with Laker great Shaquille O’Neal, with whom he was at odds with for years.

Their conflicts stemmed from Howard donning the Superman cape and outfit for his Dunk Contest appearance. He ended up taking home the award, but O'Neal claimed ownership of the Superman nickname.

O'Neal also made several comments about Howard as an analyst. The four-time champion became a talking head during Howard's early playing career, leading to several hot takes about the center's playing style.

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During one season, he went as far as to suggest that center Brook Lopez was better than Howard. O'Neal has also called out Howard's toughest approach to the game and his off-court antics.

After years of conflict, the two buried the hatchet once Howard was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in April.

O'Neal agreed to walk Howard for the ceremony, effectively ending the multiple years worth of back-and-fourths.

During an interview with reporter Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Howard opened up on how both parties patched things up.

"I don’t think none of it was for cameras. I’m not in the business of trying to do anything for show. 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 or whatever you want to call it but, you gotta let bygones be bygones," Howard told Robinson.

"My time in the NBA is over with, you know? We got the same jacket. We’re in the Hall of Fame so, we just have to respect each other, you know?

"Shaq came before me and a lot of the bigs so we always pay homage to the ones that came before us and would never disrespect him and what he meant to the game and what he’s done for the game.

"Away from basketball off the court, you know 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."

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These conflicts between great players can linger for decades, but both players showed some maturity and managed to get past their differences.

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