Dwight Howard says why Joel Embiid is ‘the only player’ who could have given Shaquille O’Neal ‘problems’

Dwight Howard compares Joel Embiid and Shaquille O’Neal

Joel Embiid has become underappreciated by NBA fans because of his ongoing struggles with injuries.

Embiid’s body has let him down recently, but that should not detract from all that he has achieved in the league.

He arguably has the best all-around game of any center ever, and he deservedly won the Most Valuable Player award in 2023.

Howard was full of praise for the Philadelphia 76ers player and even thinks he would have troubled Shaquille O’Neal in his prime. 

“I’ve got to give Embiid his props,” he said. “I know I played on his team. When he played against me, he was super young, but the dude is nice.

“I felt like if he had stayed healthy, he would probably be the only player at that time who I could see giving Shaq problems, if he was playing Shaq one-on-one.

“He knows how to play the game. He knows how to draw fouls. He knows how to do all the euro steps. He has the jump shot. He has the whole package. 100 percent healthy, Joel is a problem. He could be top 10.”

Dwight Howard comments on playing against Shaquille O’Neal

Howard played against O’Neal in the mid-2000s when they were at opposite ends of their careers.

O’Neal was not the same player that he was with the Magic or the Los Angeles Lakers, but Howard still found him tough to defend.

“Shaq was tough because he was 395 pounds,” Howard added. “He was just heavy, and he’s 7’2” or 7’3”. I’m really 6’9” or 6’10”. That’s giving up a lot of height, size, and everything.

“I just tried to make sure, anytime we played, to keep meeting him at half court and just keep fighting from half court all the way down.

“Don’t let him get anywhere in the paint because it’s over with. So imagine when he was 25 and running like a gazelle.”