‘I would have rather gone against Shaq’… Dwight Howard says Miami Heat star was scarier opponent to play against

Dwight Howard talks up Alonzo Mourning

Shaquille O’Neal is best remembered for winning three NBA titles with the LA Lakers, the last team in the league to achieve a three-peat, between 2000 and 2002.

But another part of Shaq’s legacy is his fourth and final title, achieved with the Miami Heat in 2006.

O’Neal had a little help from fellow veteran Alonzo Mourning, a player taken one pick after him in the 1992 NBA Draft.

Speaking on the PBD Podcast, Dwight Howard says he regarded Alonzo Mourning was a scarier matchup than Shaquille O’Neal, because of the aggressive way he played the game.

Howard explained: “I felt like his motor was different. When we played against the Heat and they had him and Shaq, I would have rather going against Shaq than ‘Zo.

“Only because ‘Zo was going to give me a fight every play. ‘Zo is a better defense, ‘Zo was just out there on every play.”

Howard’s comments are unlikely to really offend Shaquille O’Neal, and nor are they really a surprise.

For all O’Neal’s size and prowess, there was a sense that he left something on the table and could have gone up to an even higher level if he really committed to it.

Dwight Howard followed Alonzo Mourning’s late championship run

Dwight Howard followed Shaquille O’Neal by swapping the Orlando Magic for the LA Lakers in 2012, just like the veteran did in 1996.

It turned into a sour experience for Howard, who struggled to find a fit on the team and play with the same dominance he enjoyed on the Magic.

It took O’Neal four years to a win a title in LA, while Howard did not stick around this long, leaving to sign with the Houston Rockets in 2013.

After subsequent spells with the Hawks, Hornets and Wizards, Howard returned to the Lakers for another run and helped them to the title in 2019-20, the first of his career.

This was more like Alonzo Mourning than Shaq, who was drafted by Charlotte, signed with the Heat, then the Nets, before returning to Miami in 2005 and winning the title late in his career.