Two-time scoring champ vs 3x Defensive Player of the Year. The one time you’d want to throw the stats out the window because we’re talking Superman vs Superman here. Yes, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard have played each other 12 times and are drawn at 6-6. But what if the two players were taking each other one-on-one rather than the outcome being impacted by the teams they are playing on?

The answer came from Howard himself. Appearing on Thanalysis Show, he was asked how he would have guarded a big man like Shaq.

“I would use the fact that he’s a little bit taller than me. I would push him outside the paint as much as possible, meet him early as he’s running the floor so he can’t get deep post position,” D12 replied.

Makes sense, considering Shaquille O’Neal was arguably the most dominant player inside the paint. The only Kryptonite to this Superman was to force him to rely on his shooting to score rather than letting him drive to the basket.

As most fans would know, shooting was never an area of comfort for the 5x NBA champ. The fact he sank in just 1 three-pointer during his entire NBA career is a testament to this. But limiting O’Neal to the perimeter was a task in itself.

And stopping Shaq at his prime was nearly impossible. Something that even 3x DPOY Dwight Howard also realizes. “You talking about Prime Shaq… He’s 7-2, 335 pounds… My highest I weighed in the NBA is 285. So that’s a lot of weight and a lot of inches in height that I’m giving up against Shaq,” D12 said.

Howard admitted that Shaquille O’Neal and Giannis Antetokounmpo are two players that would’ve troubled him the most. The fact that players had no option but to foul him and send him to the free-throw line is a testament to his dominance. The technique based on Shaq’s poor free throw skills later received its name as Hack a Shaq. Nevertheless, one of Shaq’s former teammate gave us an insight into his mentality that allowed him to become one of the best players in NBA history.

Shaquille O’Neal’s former teammate once revealed the mindset that made the 4x NBA champ unstoppable

When you think of Big Diesel what comes to mind? Is it his jaw-dropping dunks, his sheer dominance, or the way he made defenders look helpless in the paint? For Corie Blount, one of Shaq’s former teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers from 1995 to 1999, it was all of the above—and more.

Blount, the 25th pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, didn’t mince words when describing Shaq. “Dude was the most dynamic big man as far as with the ability to move, to be explosive, and to react. Nobody outside has been able to do what Shaq has done,” he shared on the Man Down podcast.

But what truly made Shaq special was his mindset. Blount recalled how Shaq approached dunking with raw power, telling him, “Whenever him and me would dunk, he was always telling me to knee up, let everybody know above the rim.”

No wonder that despite his age-old feud with the 4x NBA champ, Howard could not help but acknowledge the impact of the dominance of Shaquille O’Neal in his prime.