NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has had some major feuds over the course of his playing career. His feud with teammate and fellow NBA legend Kobe Bryant needs no introduction. The two locked horns during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers. It continued even after Shaq left the Lakers. However, the iconic duo squashed their feud after Bryant’s retirement. On the other hand, Shaq’s row with another Lakers center, Dwight Howard, has been going on forever.

The four-time NBA champion’s issues with Howard started when Howard used the Superman nickname and cape during the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest. It has been a bit quiet between the two in the past few months. However, recent comments from a former coach could ignite it again.

Shaquille O’Neal might not be happy with his former coach’s pick

Shaquille O’Neal played under Stan Van Gundy during the latter’s time as head coach of the Miami Heat from 2003 to 05. Van Gundy also coached Dwight Howard from 2007 to 12 with the Orlando Magic. The veteran coach recently made an appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast by The Players’ Tribune.

During the two-hour-long sit-down, the former coach talked about a variety of interesting things from his career. In one instance, the host asked him to pick the best five-man team from the players he has coached. Van Gundy stated that it was a tough question because he was lucky to have coached a lot of great players.

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He then picked NBA legend Dwyane Wade first. Interestingly, Van Gundy selected Dwight Howard over O’Neal next. He said, “I say Wade for sure and I’d take Dwight. Now, that’s a hard one over Shaq.” However, he clarified that he does not think Howard was better than O’Neal. But he selected Howard because he coached him at his prime and that was not the case with Shaq. He added, “So I want to be clear on that. I don’t want Shaq jumping all over me saying that, ‘Oh come on!'”

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The former coach then noted that he thinks that the 2000 NBA MVP is one of the best players ever. He also said that Shaq is the only player to force his opponents to change their entire defensive scheme. He added not even Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant did that. Incidentally, O’Neal had a feud with Van Gundy as well. But that did not stop the veteran from heaping praise on the 15-time NBA All-Star.

Dwight Howard hit back after Shaq’s recent comments

Dwight Howard is currently playing in the Taiwanese basketball league and putting up huge numbers. While many praised him for his performances, Shaquille O’Neal made a disparaging remark against because of the lack of competition in the league, a few months back.

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This time, Howard did not stay quiet. He responded with a video and called out the Hall of Famer. The 2020 NBA champion asked Shaq to “stop hating”.