Former NBA centers Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal are burying the hatchet on their years-long feud with a little pomp and circumstance at Howard’s induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. After Howard’s inclusion in the hall was announced during the men’s NCAA Final Four on April 5, he shared via X that he wanted Kevin Garnett, O’Neal and KareemAbdul-Jabbar to walk him out as part of a traditional presentation done at every induction ceremony. Howard later added in an X post that he also wanted Hakeem Olajuwon and Dennis Rodman to be a part of his induction. O’Neal, who was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2016, immediately agreed. “That’s awesome. I’ll do it,” he said Thursday in response to Howard’s social media post while speaking on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” When co-host Adam Lefkoe expressed a bit of shock at O’Neal’s reaction, the legendary big man doubled down. “I’ll be there. … Of course. That’s my guy.” Howard extending an olive branch is surprising given the two have had beef since 2008 when O’Neal took offense to Howard donning a Superman cape and wearing a shirt with the character’s ‘S’ logo to perform in that year’s Slam Dunk contest. Howard won the event with an iconic dunk and received a perfect score in the final round, but in the days and years that followed, O’Neal repeatedly insisted that he was the sole owner of the Superman nickname in the NBA. O’Neal continued to rib Howard about his play and demeanor through social media posts and while speaking on his podcast. In November, Howard playfully suggested that the two should face off in a boxing match to profit from their conflict. “Shaq wassup,” he wrote in a post to X with a boxing glove emoji. “Let’s make bread,” he added, followed by a crying laughing emoji. But O’Neal didn’t take kindly to the offer. “Gotta have more than one (NBA championship) ring to get in the ring with me,” he wrote on X. “You can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy.” Howard addressed the animosity duringan appearance on “The GAUDs Show” in January,explaining that he tried to reach out to O’Neal to sort out the issue because he didn’t understand the continued disrespect. “There are so many things that we could do together. There are so many people that we could bring together, but yet you got an attitude about what?” Howard said. “I have no issue with you. But you continue to talk about me. I’m gonna have to come to you.” Howard added that even though neither he nor O’Neal is currently playing in the NBA, “we still going on with the pettiness.”“At what point does it stop, and do you have a real issue? Because if you do have a real issue, let’s move past it.” O’Neal responded to Howard’s comments with a long post to X the same day. “I won’t ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke. Won’t ever say your name again ever again,” he wrote. Howard fired back, writing that O’Neal had “always been jealous” and telling him to “grow the hell up and move on.” Despite saying he wouldn’t bring up Howard’s name again, O’Neal replied by saying that Howard’s legacy is his podcast and pointing out that he wasn’t a Hall of Famer yet. Three months later, Howard is awaiting his induction into the hall and will have O’Neal by his side for the enshrinement ceremony on Sept. 6. After O’Neal agreed to partake in the ceremony, Howard wrote an X post expressing his appreciation. “It will be an honor to have you, KG, DROD, Hakeem and Kareem walk me into the Basketball Heavens.” Maybe the two players — whose careers followed similar paths from being selected No. 1 by the Orlando Magic to winning championships with the Los Angeles Lakers — will find peace after all.
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