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Unfazed by Long-Standing Bitter Feud, Shaquille O’Neal Seemingly Approves 6ft 10 NBA Veteran’s Nifty Mastery

Published 08/26/2023, 5:30 AM EDT

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Shaquille O’Neal has had many altercations. Some physical and some verbal, both on and off the basketball court. He also got into it with a former Orlando big previously. The pair have exchanged heated words on several occasions in the past. But recently the four-time NBA champion was spotted vouching for the man in question to be included in a rather prestigious basketball list.

Many consider Shaq to be in the Mt. Rushmore of the game. But Big Diesel heaped some massive praise on his 6’10 foe, who is currently taking Chinese basketball by storm.

Shaquille O’Neal approves Orlando great’s mastery

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A clip has been doing rounds on the internet. Shaq even reposted it. In the clip, Matt Barnes is making a case for Dwight Howard to be included in NBA’s list of top 75 players of all time. Howard won the defensive player of the year multiple times in the NBA.

He currently features for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League but during his prime, Dwight was as dominant as they came.

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Shaq reposted the viral clip where NBA legend Matt Barnes was saying, “I’ve never seen anything like him.”

The 2017 NBA Champion added, “I’ve never felt more comfortable guarding my guy than [I did] with Dwight. Cause I know they got to get by me. And if they still got by me, Dwight would block that sh*t or he’ll hard foul you.”

Shaquille O’Neal despite feuding with Dwight for almost a decade showed a massive sign of respect that he has for the center a few months back.

Shaq gives props to Howard

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On being asked who could dunk like him in the modern NBA Shaq replied, “Probably only one: Dwight Howard. He was a monster when he was younger.”

Dwight was a menace in his prime and almost won Orlando the NBA Championship. But much like Shaq, he realized he would have to find greener pastures in order to win a chip. The similarities between the two bigs are rather significant.

Howard also used to impose his physicality on his opponents. Both were subpar shooters. And both owned the paint during their primes. Notably, both were drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 1st pick but moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in hopes of winning championships.

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It’ll be interesting to see what Howard has to say about The Big Aristotle as Shaq is looking to burry the hatchet between them.

WATCH THIS STORY: Kobe Bryant’s timeless piece of advice for the PGA tour winner. 

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Written by:

Aaditya Negi

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Aaditya is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports and has been following the game for a number of years. He is an avid fan of the NBA and follows what’s happening in the league on a daily basis. Having worked as an intern in the sports domain, his passion for writing arose from his fondness for the intricacies of the game.
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Edited by:

Aakash Nair