Dwight Howard has spent most of his career getting compared to Shaquille O’Neal, which has always been unfair but also inevitable given he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic.
Shaq has not helped matters by being harsh with criticism of Howard over his career, and Howard hasn’t helped himself by doing things like adopting the Superman name and trying to take on the bully-ball, back to the basket style of Shaq when that has never been his strong suit. Howard’s back injury is the most tangible reason for his decline as a player, but part of the reason his reputation among fans is as bad as it is, is because Shaq’s been telling us this guy should average 20 and 20 for a decade.
Howard has continually looked to get Shaq’s approval, but failed to do so no matter how hard he tries. Sometimes that’s him demanding the ball in the post and trying to eat the “BBQ chicken” Shaq is always hollering about, and sometimes it’s him trying to challenge Shaq to a roast battle on Instagram and getting destroyed in a reply.
@DragonflyJonez you seen this? pic.twitter.com/E3heEEgkoZ
— Dolph (@Ruedoggy) September 24, 2018
Oof. Dwight just needs to stop trying with O’Neal. He’s never going to gain that Shaq stamp of approval on or off the court, and if he’d accept that and just let Shaq’s critiques roll off, he’d probably be happier and more effective as a player. Instead, he keeps trying things like this and setting himself up for pain and mockery.
