Shaquille O’Neal, the king of beef | Beef History Marathon

Shaquille O’Neal, the king of beef | Beef History Marathon

– Shaquille O’Neal is the king of beef. Among NBA greats, Shaq stands out for his love of generating rivalries and picking petty little fights with those rivals. If we take a walk through Shaq’s various overlapping feuds, we’ll see what makes him the beefiest. So let’s take that walk. Shaq relishes his status as one of the NBA’s greatest ever centers, and he sort of wields it as a reason to pick on other centers. Since very early in his career, he’s been compared to some NBA greats, and he mostly likes that, with one exception.

Shaquille O’Neal takes a lot of pride in his status among the greatest centers in basketball history. Shaq has always spoken about the NBA’s center position like it’s a fraternity. He feels his inarguable greatness as a player empowers him to speak out as a sort of chancellor for that fraternity. A big man emeritus

Entitled to judge his seven-foot brothers. If you play a dishonorable style or speak outta turn or otherwise behave in a way Shaq finds unbecoming of a center, he will say so. We know Shaq picked fights with contemporaries, and we know Shaq has nitpicked the next generation of bigs,

But what about the centers who came before him? Shaq’s fraternal feelings include deep admiration and fond words for the icons at his position, with one notable exception, Bill Walton. When it comes to this legendary NBA center, Shaq’s got beef. We are not talking about the distant past here. In a 2020 podcast, Shaquille O’Neal used Bill Walton as an example of someone who shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame, at least based on just his NBA career. As recently as 2022, Shaq went totally out of his way

To insist Walton’s accomplishments weren’t enough for inclusion on the NBA 75 list. – Yeah, ’cause why, he only got 6,000 points in the NBA. – Yeah. – [Seth] While also indicating this wasn’t a new or purely objective thought. – You know who I’ve always had a problem with? Bill Walton.

– I think a lot of people have a problem- – Yeah, you say that all the time. – [Seth] Ha! Okay, so let’s go back. The concept of an elite big man fraternity has basically always been part of Shaq’s story. Shaq invited comparisons to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his high school jersey number.

His college coach at LSU invited some NBA greats, including Walton, to come mentor him. All of this felt appropriate because observers anticipated correctly that Shaq would become one of those greats. Take this Reebok commercial from 1993, O’Neal’s rookie season. Shaq knocks on the invisible door of a prestigious clubhouse

And meets Bill Russell who offers a sort of meta admission of how premature this whole exercise is. – You’re early. – [Seth] Until Shaq insists he’s different. – But I’m ready. – Then prove it. – [Seth] And thus, Shaq gets an audience with his esteemed seven-foot elders, Wilt, Russell, Kareem, and Bill Walton.

Now, to understand where our story is headed and why Shaq keeps disparaging Walton’s career on podcasts, we will need to crudely compare achievements between these greats. When it comes to collegiate glory, especially in the NCAA tournament, Bill Walton’s record at UCLA is right up there with the best of these guys.

But in the NBA, it’s a different story. Here is a rundown of titles, MVPs, All-Star appearances and points for Wilt, Russ, and Kareem. Here, when it was all said and done, is Shaq’s resume, which compares pretty favorably to those legends, especially when you consider the eras in which they played.

And here’s Bill Walton. Now, like I said, this is a terribly crude exercise. All of this needs context, especially Walton’s unique story. Bedeviled by bad luck and chronic foot issues, Walton scarcely even came close to playing a full season over his decade and change in the NBA. When available, Walton was fantastic.

Finals MVP for the 1977 Champion Portland Trail Blazers, and League MVP the following season, but Walton missed several entire seasons of his prime due to injury. He broke up with the Blazers on unfriendly terms and spent most of his early 30s as a utility bench player, winning that second ring

As a low-minute glue guy for the ’86 Celtics, and retiring soon thereafter. Bill Walton accomplished great things, but his NBA career doesn’t measure up to his legendary peers or to his own UCLA glory simply because health limited his opportunities. It is what it is.

And for a while, it wasn’t really on Shaq’s mind. That’s probably because he and Walton had a regular amicable relationship in person, and complimented each other well at their respective jobs. In the 90s and 2000s, while Shaq ascended from star to superstar to champion and legend, Walton was establishing his unique persona

As a member of the media. Erudite and blustery, florid in both praise and condemnation, a guy who loves great basketball almost as much as he loves the Grateful Dead. And Shaq was Bill’s muse. When O’Neal joined the LA Lakers in 1996, Walton sounded absolutely over the moon,

Describing the big guy as a combination of Magic and Wilt. He foresaw the next great Laker, the star who would lead them back to glory. Bill couldn’t find anything to criticize about Shaq in LA. “Are you kidding me? This is great.” As Shaq and Kobe Bryant carried the Lakers

To three consecutive titles, Walton’s platform only grew. Bill spent the spring of 2002 on a highly publicized 30-day, 30-game tour of the NBA playoff landscape, then joined the broadcast booth for live coverage of the finals that June, while the Lakers were pursuing their three-peat. Shaq was the inspiration

For one of Walton’s most legendary calls, really the perfect pairing of spectacle and narration. – [Bill] Throw it down! Throw it down, big man! – [Seth] Not that everyone agreed. Shaq reciprocated the attention in less enthusiastic ways. During the 2002 finals, he tried to distance himself from Walton on at least two occasions. One came up in the context of a big toe injury that nagged O’Neal during the ’01-’02 season and throughout those finals. Shaq played through the foot pain,

Joking that he would keep doing so until. Oh, rude. More on that soon. Second thing, when asked about that time Walton came to LSU to give him some lessons, Shaq was dismissive. They only worked together one day. Bill didn’t teach him much. And while O’Neal borrowed plenty of moves

From other great big men, Walton, as an older fella, didn’t have much to offer. His moves were analogue. Also rude. That summer, Shaq’s toe problem lingered long enough that he felt compelled to take an option he’d been afraid of, foot surgery. Why was he scared?

Again, it was a matter of ending up like Bill Walton. No offense. None taken necessarily, but Walton supposedly said something to someone about how O’Neal losing weight might relieve pressure on his toe. Walton was far from the first person to suggest this. Lakers coach, Phil Jackson said the same on record.

But once Walton’s comments reached Shaq, he focused his animus toward Bill. Before a game in Portland, early in the ’02-’03 season, O’Neal spotted Walton interviewing Kobe Bryant in the locker room, and addressed him. “I’m no peon. Watch your mouth.” Walton didn’t respond, but later suggested to reporters

That his point got lost in translation. He just thought a lighter Shaq might be a healthier, better Shaq. Shaquille was not having it. He told reporters to pass along the stats. He was 342 pounds, 17% body fat. And then came the big turn, a tone-setter for the decades to follow.

“He talks too much. I’ve done more in the league than he’s done.” Shaq told Bill, who is 20 years his senior, to respect his elders. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that is beef. On multiple occasions, this guy had been presented to Shaq

As a mentor and as an example of what he might become. In just a couple media cycles, Shaq ripped those notions and Walton’s entire NBA resume to shreds. Coincidentally, O’Neal had a pretty rough 2003 season. He gave a media guy and former great like Walton, plenty to talk about.

Shaq’s toe still wasn’t all the way healthy, and Walton weighed in. Rifts between the Lakers percolated more and more, with Shaq openly sneering at teammates, and Walton weighed in. Shaq said, and only kind of apologized for some pretty racist stuff about Yao Ming. Walton weighed in, forcefully.

Maybe less coincidentally, Shaq kept using Walton as a sort of derogatory shorthand reference point for his sore foot. Things unraveled in LA. Shaq got fed up, got traded, and moved along to Miami. Although not before spending one season playing with Bill’s son, Luke Walton, and evidently talking a lot about Luke’s, quote,

“crazy father.” Anyway, while Shaq starred for the Heat, Bill Walton was out there singing his praises, calling him the king of the sport, and marveling at how thoroughly he dominated the competition. But he was also out there identifying occasions in which Shaq underperformed that level of greatness,

Like when he saw Shaq getting outplayed by DeSagana Diop and Erick Dampier in the 2006 finals. Miami turned around that series to win Shaq his fourth title. The Big Diesel, relatively healthy and glorious once more, didn’t have much to say about Bill Walton. But as another champion fell apart, the beef returned.

In the 2008 season, O’Neal’s performance slipped along with that of the Heat. He missed games with sort of vague health issues, which sparked conflict between Shaq and Coach Pat Riley, who implied his star was exaggerating his injuries to bail on a struggling team. In February ’08, Riley cut O’Neal loose,

Trading him to Phoenix, where Shaq suddenly sounded much more upbeat about his prognosis. On SportsCenter, Walton called bullshit. – Doing absolutely nothing, saying he couldn’t play at all. Now, he said he’s gonna win the championship. What’s up with this? – [Seth] And in closing, Walton delivered the most direct ad hominem vitriol

He had ever uttered about Shaquille O’Neal. – Shaq’s arrogance is an insult to people who think. – [Seth] Shaq was the bigger man. He addressed Walton’s criticism with a simple, “No comment.” Just kidding. In extremely Shaq fashion, the new Phoenix Sun cheekily repeated the idea

That Walton wasn’t accomplished enough to talk about him. – I think Mr. Walton has broken the Big Man Pecking Order Code: Ordinance 2257, which means his resume isn’t quite good enough to speak on what I’ve done. – [Seth] He reiterated the one fact he saw as defining Walton’s career,

And invalidating his entire persona. – No, he’s a guy who only played one or two seasons injury-free, and now, he’s talking about me being injured, so, one thing I really hated is a hypocrite. – [Seth] He referenced the three other guys in that Reebok commercial, the centers he saw as authentic legends.

– [Shaquille] I’ve spoken to Bill Russell, I’ve had conversation with Wilt Chamberlain, rest in peace. Haven’t spoken with Kareem. – [Seth] And so as to separate Walton from that Mount Rushmore, he compared him to a modern day bench warmer. – If Bill was playing right now, you remember what happened to Greg Ostertag?

You remember that, right? – This is Vintage Shaq, playful words belying a genuinely harsh message. Dude wasn’t done either. Shaq compared himself to Bill Russell or Bill Gates. He compared Bill Walton to the owner of Atari. So yeah, Shaq really unloaded. His words echoed those of 2002, although, this time,

The attack comprised of proportionate response to Walton’s. Bill had initiated the dialogue with something a lot more provocative, a lot more personal than advice about Shaq’s playing weight. Not long after all this, Shaq did end up serving kind of a Bill Walton role. He played light minutes for contending teams,

Including the very same franchise with which Walton won his second ring. Granted, Shaq assumed that role when he was nearly 40 years old. He didn’t recede in his early 30s the way Walton had to. So, yes, Shaquille O’Neal was better than Bill Walton. Thanks, in some part, to better health,

Shaq’s career more closely resembles that of his beloved Mount Rushmore of great centers. I don’t think Bill would disagree. But he would surely disagree about what that means. Shaq feels the achievement gap makes Walton unqualified to talk about him. But, for a while, it was Walton’s job to talk about Shaq,

And that included everything from praise to advice to direct attacks. Shaq did not want to hear it, but Walton wouldn’t stop talking, louder and louder. Shaq’s out of the league now, but even as big man emeritus, he’s not one to let go of a grudge, which explains this campaign to besmirch Walton’s resume.

So, even as these guys cross paths without incident, there is beef simmering just below the surface. So we’re gonna jump ahead a little bit, but there is a “Beef History” episode about Shaq’s rivalry with David Robinson, who is more of a contemporary than some of the guys we’re gonna talk about. It just comes from a time when Secret Base wasn’t quite as careful

About fair use and copyright law and stuff and all that. But it is on YouTube so you can go watch it. Go watch it right now, I’ll wait. Go watch it and then come back. Okay, so, now let’s move along to when the Lakers traded Shaq. The thing about Shaq is he was so good, so dominant, that him arriving on your team could completely change the culture and politics of that team. Just ask Stan Van Gundy. The Miami Heat won their first NBA championship in 2006.

Miami’s formula seems pretty straightforward. Longtime Heat Leader, Pat Riley, drafted superstar Dwyane Wade, then traded for superstar Shaquille O’Neal, then coached them to a title. Simple. But that short version of the story leaves out one season, one important character, and the start of one long-lasting beef.

When Shaq arrived in Miami, his coach wasn’t Pat Riley, it was Stan Van Gundy. The relationship between these two ended in a swift divorce, but it stayed testy for a while longer. Let’s begin with Stan, because he was there first. In 1995, legendary Head Coach Pat Riley, abruptly ditched the New York Knicks for the Miami Heat. Miami gave him everything he wanted, a huge salary plus control over the bench and front office. Riley did not, however, get to keep one of his favorite sidekicks.

The Knicks refused to let longtime assistant, Jeff Van Gundy follow Riley to Miami. Undeterred, Riley found himself another Van Gundy, literally. Jeff’s older, hairier brother, Stan, had been climbing up the college coaching ranks for years and finally got a big head coach gig at Wisconsin the season prior. Well, guess what, kid?

You’re an NBA assistant coach now. For the rest of the 90s, Riley tried, came close, and ultimately failed to contend for a championship with Stan by his side all the while. Around the millennium, the Heat began to collapse. And in 2003, they posted their worst record of Riley’s tenure,

Bad enough to land a top five pick in the ’03 draft, which, hey, not a bad year to be in the lottery. With the fifth pick, Riley snagged Marquette guard, Dwyane Wade, Miami’s hopeful star of a new era. But mere days before the ’03-’04 season began,

Riley decided he didn’t wanna coach this rebuild project, and suddenly resigned that half of his dual role. Riley supposedly walked into Stan’s office, said, “You ready?” and then gave the other Van Gundy brother his first ever NBA head coaching job on the spot. And it went great, this team was fun as hell.

Not just the sensational rookie, Wade, but developing stars like Caron Butler and Lamar Odom, wonderful vets like Eddie Jones and Brian Grant, pure aesthetic joy in the form of Rafer Alston, and, yes, Udonis Haslem was once a rookie. The Heat were cool and likable,

And for the first time in a bit, pretty good. They made the playoffs as a four seed and won a nail-biter first round against the Hornets. For piloting this youth movement and defying expectations, Van Gundy received strong consideration for Coach of the Year. Awesome. Great feelings all around. And then, quite suddenly,

Those expectations exploded in the summer of ’04. Riley, who was still team president, went ahead and traded like half the people I just named for, yes. Van Gundy’s happy-go-lucky young roster got sold out for the NBA’s biggest superstar. In terms of personality, fame, salary, and you know, size,

No one was larger than Shaq. Don’t get me wrong, managing Shaquille O’Neal is a fantastic problem to have, but his sudden presence would represent a monumental shift for anyone, let alone a coach entering his second season. Shaq was believed to respect fame and resume above all else. Everyone thought he played a role

In Phil Jackson taking the Lakers job from the less accomplished Del Harris just a few years prior. So off the bat, people wondered if O’Neal might tune out the inexperienced Van Gundy, and might respond better to Riley, who had won titles with the Lakers during Shaq’s childhood.

People even wondered if Riley would swoop back onto the bench and reclaim his old second job. All this, despite Shaq once writing, he would never play for Riley because of his famously grueling practices. In the meantime, Shaq met his new actual coach with typical good humor, if maybe not the best fitness.

He found Van Gundy to be a strong disciplinarian and a demanding tactician. Shaq sometimes got a bit frustrated blending into a new system, but as far as I can tell, this was a fine enough professional partnership. The major challenge for both men was Shaq’s health. O’Neal managed to stay available

For most of his first Heat season, but played through a sore hamstring early on and dragged a troublesome bruised thigh into the playoffs. Still, he was a force when he played, and not even Miami’s foremost threat alongside the rapidly improving weight. Van Gundy coached both his stars in the All-Star game,

Topped the Eastern Conference with 59 wins, then guided Miami through playoff sweeps of the Nets and Wizards, even with Shaq severely hobbled. In an Eastern Conference final against the defending champion Detroit Pistons, Miami overcame a shaky Game 1 to pull ahead three games to two.

Stan Van Gundy had the Heat one win away from the NBA Finals, closer than Riley ever got them as coach. Wade had to sit Game 6 with a rib injury, which cost the Heat dearly, but he returned for Game 7 at home. That decisive contest looked good for Miami.

Even with their nagging injuries, Wade and Shaq led the Heat back from a halftime deficit. Shaq played the final eight and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, and influenced the action in Wade’s, almost always featured in Miami’s offense as a screener or a finisher. Each time the Heat seemed to slip,

Shaq demanded the ball and restored order. Like this stretch around the three-minute mark, a post up, a drawn foul, and believe it or not, two clutched free-throws. Then after Doug Collins noticed the big guy calling his own number. – [Commentator] Shaq said, “Bring me the basketball, right now.”

– [Seth] this gorgeous shake and bucket against Ben Wallace to pull back ahead. Still, you could tell Shaq wasn’t quite himself on a play like this lobbed from Wade, and you know, he wasn’t gonna be perfect from the free-throw line. All this sets the scene for the final 90 seconds of Game 7.

Miami trailed once more. This part is important for our beefy purposes. Possession number one, Shaq is outta the picture on the weak side of the floor. Wade takes a quick shot and breaks it badly. Possession number two comes out of a timeout, so Coach Van Gundy had a chance to draw something up

Down three points. Whatever it was, it does not find Shaq. Wade faces a double-team and just dribbles straight into a tie up. Shaq gave the Heat life with a steal on the next play, and Shaq scored Miami’s only field goal of the final two minutes, but it was too little too late.

Blown fourth quarter lead, blown series lead, no trip to the finals for the East’s number one seed. And here, it began. After the game, reporters asked O’Neal why he didn’t dominate down the stretch, and Big Diesel shifted that onus onto Van Gundy. “I don’t make the decisions.

Ask the guy who makes the decisions.” Almost immediately thereafter, rumors bubbled, ripples of those ideas from the prior summer. Maybe Shaq would rather Riley coach the Heat. In August, ESPN’s Ric Bucher reported Riley might indeed make that move, and noted that Shaq didn’t have Van Gundy’s back in public.

Nonetheless, Miami opened the ’05-’06 season with the same coach. O’Neal missed a bunch of that early season with injury, but took the opportunity to dismiss that ESPN report. “The day Ric Bucher reported credibly would be the day Shaq became the 48th white president of the United States,” which is interesting and worth considering,

Because in December of 2005, Stan Van Gundy quit. He said he wanted to focus on his family. Everyone else said Shaq and or Pat forced him out. And, well, Riley did instantly give himself Van Gundy’s job and then coached Miami to the aforementioned ’06 title. After the Heat won it all without him,

People felt bad for Van Gundy. But you know, it’s hard to argue with a ring. And Stan soon resurfaced in a prime role just a couple hundred miles away. Head coach of the Orlando Magic, noted employers of Dwight Howard, who many saw as the next Shaq,

And who Shaq saw as an obnoxious poser. There was plenty of beef between these two, and it was a Shaq-Howard collision that inflamed the Shaq-Van Gundy beef. In March of 2009, Shaq, now with the Phoenix Suns, hit the floor while defending a Dwight Howard post up dunk.

Look closely at the timing and the angle, and I think you can pretty fairly say that Shaq exaggerated contact to try to draw a foul. It happens, but it’s the kind of behavior for which Shaq himself might disparage an opponent. Because of that, Van Gundy razzed Shaq about it

During the game and kept going afterward. He was shocked to see his old player take a fall. He said, “Shaq should stand up and play like a man.” And he even used the unspeakable F word. You better believe Shaq responded. Good Lord, did he respond.

First, he defended himself against that loathsome F word, and offered a weird little lecture on semantics. Then Shaq pointed a cannon at Van Gundy, repeatedly belittling his former coach’s entire career. – One thing I really despise is a front runner.

So, you know, I know for a fact that he’s a master of panic and you know when it gets time for his team to go in the post-season and do certain things, he will let them down because of his panic. And I’ve been there before, I played for him, so.

– [Seth] That wasn’t even all of it. Shaq called Van Gundy a nobody, and said he wasn’t gonna let nobodies take shots at him. Oh, and one more thing, make sure you print this. Everybody who plays for Van Gundy dislikes him. This is what’s known among students of beef as a spicy meatball.

Mamma mia. Van Gundy wasn’t gonna volley it back though. He laughed, he called Shaq sensitive, and basically, left it at that. Dwight wanted no part of this, but other Magic players stepped up to be like, “Uh, yeah, hey, you know, we like our coach just fine sometimes.”

Shaq didn’t find any of this funny. And for a little while, they went their separate ways. Shaq’s career wound down, and when reminded of the blowup, he said he was just defending himself, that it wasn’t his style to call people out. I disagree, but okay.

Van Gundy, meanwhile, coached the Magic to the ’09 finals, but things soured thereafter. Stan’s reputation took a hit, in large part, because he and Dwight had a falling out that ended quite awkwardly, with Stan telling reporters that Dwight wanted him fired, followed by Stan indeed getting fired soon thereafter.

History was repeating itself, or was it? A year prior, Shaq had released a book, and therein, insisted he had nothing to do with Van Gundy’s exit from Miami in 2005, that that had more to do with a rift between Van Gundy and Pat Riley. There’s definitely something to that,

But I will note that Shaq also mentioned Van Gundy’s distaste for his behavior, and claimed that Miami would not have won the ’06 title if Van Gundy remained their coach. And now, post book publication, Shaq weighed in on the Stan-Dwight breakup of 2012. Even though Shaq very publicly despised Dwight Howard,

He took Dwight’s side. – First of all, private conversations should never be brought public. I think it was a bush league move by Stan Van Gundy, really, personally. First of all, he’s lost his team forever now. That right there can never be repaired. Players respect guys with proven resumes.

You know, Stan’s been there a while, he’s a good coach. But as you know, in this league, good is not good enough. It’s all about winning championships. And I think that sometimes they don’t respect his decision-making. – [Seth] That stuff sounds a lot like the reasons people believed

That Shaq preferred Pat Riley to Van Gundy back in 2005. When he talks like that, it becomes difficult to believe that Shaq had nothing to do with Van Gundy’s sudden Heat departure back then. Perhaps he was just a smoother operator than young Dwight. That would certainly fit with the low level of provocation

It took for Shaq to verbally dismember his former coach just a couple years later. Shaq’s got plenty of beefs, but he tends to cook them up on his own terms, and to have fun with them. This one kind of put him on the defensive,

And it took a way harsher tone than we’re used to. In any event, things turned out okay enough. Van Gundy kept getting jobs and kept having unpleasant exits. In between and since, you’ll sometimes see him on TV working alongside Shaq with minimal awkward acknowledgement of their time together.

– [Host] And I’m also gonna need some stories about D Wade and Shaq. – [Shaquille] Don’t do it, coach. – So this was a brief beef, and mostly, an under the surface beef. But don’t forget that it included some unusually nasty words. And at its outset, it may have helped shape NBA history.

Stan Van Gundy actually plays a role in our next beef. His job after coaching the Heat was coaching the Orlando Magic, where he worked with a player who Shaq saw as kind of a bootleg version of himself, and Shaq didn’t like that. Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard have a ton in common,

Like a truly eerie amount. Same draft situation, same mentor, same career decisions, feuds, free-throw problems, and crucially, the same cultural references. Those similarities drew a lot of mockery from Shaq. And as Dwight’s career has underperformed its initial promise, that distinction has drawn a lot of mockery from Shaq too. Let’s start in the summer of 2004. The Orlando Magic, after years of playoff disappointment, finally crumbled for real. The past season had been a train wreck. They fully lost veteran star Grant Hill to scary medical problems, fired Coach Doc Rivers after a horrible start,

And won just 21 games while young superstar Tracy McGrady became more and more disgruntled. The silver lining to that dreadful year was winning the draft lottery. With the first pick, Orlando took a risk selecting high school big man, Dwight Howard, over more established NCAA Champion center, Emeka Okafor. But what next?

Despite Howard begging him to stay, T-Mac wanted out. The Magic had to make a trade, and there was one obvious potential partner, the LA Lakers, who were dealing with a similar issue. Shaquille O’Neal had demanded a trade after eight wild, but successful years in LA concluded with a lot of drama.

Shaq, of course, was drafted by Orlando in 1992, became an All-Star rookie there, developed into a true superstar under Coach Brian Hill, and even reached a finals before bolting to LA in ’96. An Orlando return was enticing to both parties, and the idea of a Dwight-Shaq tandem was fascinating,

But the trade match just wasn’t right, especially since Shaq was most attracted to the idea of playing with McGrady. In the end, McGrady got dealt to the Rockets for a huge package centered around Steve Francis. A couple weeks later, Shaq landed 200 miles away in Miami.

Over in Orlando, Dwight’s first couple of seasons didn’t go quite like Shaq’s had. For one thing, the Magic didn’t immediately treat him as a centerpiece, or even as a center. The 6’10-ish Howard played power forward alongside the likes of Tony Battie and Kelvin Cato. He struggled to get touches among scorers like Francis

And Hill and Hedo Turkoglu. That was the big story around Dwight’s first ever game against O’Neal in the Heat. Shaq dominated, then offered some advice to a young Dwight who was sad he wasn’t getting the ball. But Brian Hill, the same guy who had coached Shaq in Orlando, took over Howard’s sophomore year

And gradually realized Dwight should play center. He was a little short for the position, but rapidly adding strength. By the time the Heat and Magic met for back-to-back games in ’06, Dwight matched up with Shaq quite a bit with mixed results. The Heat dominated those games

And ended that year winning Shaq his fourth ring, but Howard was beginning to break out. And by the next season, the Magic knew they had another star center on their hands. With Francis gone now and more chances to score, Dwight played his way to his first All-Star selection

In ’07, although not the starting center spot. That went to Shaq, even though he’d barely played that year because of injury. The two of them had a fun little dance-off on the practice floor in Vegas. Then Dwight played wonderfully in the main event. No beef detected. Not yet.

If ’06-’07 wasn’t Dwight’s breakout season, then the next one definitely was. Orlando hired Shaq’s old coach from Miami, Stan Van Gundy, and gave Rashard Lewis a huge contract to serve as Dwight’s co-star. Dwight improved, the Magic improved, and battles against Shaq’s Heat started to tip the other way.

Shaq was slowing down big time at this point, increasingly prone to injuries, foul trouble, and clashes with Coach Pat Riley. It got bad enough that in February of 2008, Miami pulled the plug and traded Shaq to the Suns. Dwight, like everyone else, was stunned, but he pointed out that Shaq was Superman,

And Superman would make it work in Phoenix. And Dwight didn’t choose that honorific at random. Of all of Shaq’s self cultivated nicknames, Superman might be his favorite. He has a Superman tattoo, he surrounds himself with Superman stuff, the dude even starred in a movie based on one of DC Comics’ Superman offshoot characters.

Dwight clearly was well aware of this nickname, which made All-Star weekend later that month interesting. It was a big weekend for Dwight. He’d been voted into the Eastern Conference starting center spot, vacated when Shaq got traded west. In fact, for the first time in his career, Shaq wasn’t an All-Star at all.

And Dwight kind of took over as the headliner of the weekend, though he missed Shaq’s presence there. Howard also participated in the dunk contest, and as part of the presentation, teased the possibility of a Superman costume, and separately considered a Shaq tribute. Dwight went the Superman route,

Donning a cape and a big old S for the soaring dunk that won the contests, but it wasn’t really regarded as a tribute to Shaq. Dwight was introduced as Superman at the main event the next night, and sort of apologized to the absent Shaq for, you know, infringing on his persona.

Shaq was not into it, scoffing at Dwight claiming the title without having won anything greater than a dunk contest. Let’s just pause quickly to acknowledge that grown men quarreling over who gets to cosplay as a comic book character is extremely dumb. And this is gonna get dumber. But Shaq’s actual point was interesting,

And echoes throughout a lot of what’s to come. Shaq is very keen on the mythology of the big men, the true centers. He grew up idolizing Kareem, and when he got to the league, he felt like he had to earn the respect of greats like Hakeem and Patrick. Those centers of the 90s

Put the young upstart O’Neal through a lot before he emerged as an elite big man. He went through epic playoff battles and even had some beef along the way. Shaq earned his legendary status because he put up unbelievable numbers against legendary bigs for teams that won it all.

It’s not like Shaq was quiet and humble before he proved himself as a winner, but especially with the benefit of hindsight, Shaq feels that the more superficial embellishments of super stardom have to be earned. So yeah, Dwight winning a dunk contest and leading Orlando to one playoff series win later in ’08

Wasn’t enough for O’Neal. The big guy practically spat at the suggestion that Dwight might be the next Shaq or even that such a thing was possible. Healthy and productive again in Phoenix, Shaq returned to the 2009 All-Star game and went out of his way to embarrass Dwight, who just laughed along with it

After having leaned even heavier on the Superman stuff in the dunk contest the night before. When they finally met again in a real game, Shaq showed up wearing a Superman T-shirt and called out young Dwight’s lack of championships. In an earlier Sports Illustrated interview,

He’d belittled Dwight as a big guy, just like any other, a guy who could run and jump but didn’t have championships, a copycat whose early career was just a cheap replica of all the things O’Neal did when he was in Orlando. Dwight sounded genuinely hurt. He wanted guidance from Shaq, not disparagement.

Anyway, the younger of the two Supermen held his own that night, and Orlando got the win. Shaq performed admirably for a guy about to turn 37, but the highlight of his evening was this very un-Shaq-like flop. That flop ignited a mini beef between Shaq and his old coach, Van Gundy.

Howard mostly tried to stay out of it, but did seem to get a kick out of saying he respected his elders. The Magic finished the ’09 season with 59 wins. Dwight would take home Defensive Player of the Year. And as the playoffs approached, Sports Illustrated dropped a big cover story on Howard

That opened with an anecdote about Shaq calling him an impostor. That article went on to distinguish Howard as sillier and smilier than the stereotypical badass big man Shaq epitomizes. But it did point out that the Superman stuff wasn’t the only way Howard seemed to mimic Shaq. He also, for instance,

Was prone to celebrating tough finishes by staring at his hand. Dwight also literally impersonated Shaq, so there’s that. – Hello, it’s Shaquille O’Neal. I can’t shoot free-throws, but I can dunk the ball. – [Seth] But silly or not, copycat or not, Dwight was threatening to invalidate Shaq’s main talking point. He was winning.

Howard’s Magic cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs, then upset LeBron James and the Cavs to face Shaq’s old pals for the championship. O’Neal handled the occasion like any adult would, by (beep) posting on Twitter the night of Game 1 of the finals.

A Woj column a few days later went in on Shaq. It had Kareem himself questioning the maturity of a 37-year-old. Howard once again expressing his dismay in the middle of the finals, and anonymous sources proclaiming Shaq wanted the Magic to get swept in the finals just like his own ’95 Magic got swept

Just so Dwight couldn’t claim anything over him. Orlando did get one win in an otherwise lopsided finals defeat. So take that, Shaq, I guess. The following season, Shaq joined LeBron in Cleveland, and fully embraced the role of anti-Dwight villain. His vendetta had only been inflamed by Dwight going commercial with the Superman persona.

– You’re really lucky Superman was so close by. – [Seth] In the few minutes Shaq played during the first Cleveland-Orlando matchup, he insisted on guarding Dwight one-on-one, courting the boos of an Orlando crowd that once loved him, and actually helping push Dwight into foul trouble as the Cavs got the win.

O’Neal played Howard well again later that season, getting physical at every opportunity, then taunting him after the game about who the real Superman was, which once again hurt Dwight’s feelings and invited some thoughtful critique from LeBron. Shaq’s main quibble had shifted. He was up in arms that Dwight wouldn’t always guard him one-on-one,

That the Magic sent double-teams at him, whereas he’d spent his youth guarding guys like Hakeem and Ewing straight up. LeBron once again was like, “Eh, he’s just grumpy about the Superman stuff,” which, yeah. Later in February, we were treated to an exciting duel in which Shaq and Dwight went directly at each other.

Each having some big moments in what ended up being a Magic win. The Celtics broke up a potential Cavs-Magic playoff rematch on their way to the 2010 finals. So, Shaq, desperate for one last ring, spent his next and final season in Boston. He was too old and beat up at this point

To hang with younger players. Dwight toppled him in their first matchup, and in their final matchup, dropped 33 points on a flurry of dunks, post moves and face up buckets. Shaq said farewell at the end of that season, using his retirement press conference to hammer home the Superman and ring stuff.

But he also said the beef was all marketing, and gave Howard some credit as a great big man. And then Shaq faded into the sunset, enjoying his post playing career quietly and out of the public eye. Oh, no, sorry. I’m actually getting word that Shaq immediately took a job

With TNT, and spent the rest of the decade criticizing Dwight. In 2012, when Dwight was at his All-Star peak, Shaq was calling LA’s Andrew Bynum the superior player. – Andrew Bynum is a true big man. Back you down, jump hook. Dwight Howard has one or two moves on the block.

– [Seth] Dwight was just tired of Shaq at this point. Disappointed that a dude done playing was still talking. – You know, I would suggest he just sit down and get on with his life. He don’t play no more, so what’s the point of talking trash?

– [Seth] Dwight hadn’t stopped doing impressions though. – Every day, (Dwight faintly speaking) That’s Shaq, that’s Shaq. – [Seth] That regular season ended with the super awkward falling out between Howard and Van Gundy that would end with the coach getting fired. – You know, when it comes out to the, you know, one of the highest profile guys in the league

Has asked for his coach to be fired, I mean, it’s gonna be a story. – Yeah, what’s our main concern right now? – [Seth] Another eerie parallel between Dwight and Shaq. Even with Van Gundy gone, Dwight made another Shaq-like move, demanding a trade and eventually joining Kobe and the Lakers,

While the Magic figured out a way to move on without him. Shaq said Dwight had big shoes to fill, and found yet another big man critique to harp on, that Dwight was a pick and roll player, not a true old school center, like say a Lopez twin.

– Dwight Howard, who’s a pick and roll player, you know, some people say he’s the best, but me, being the old school big man, I’m gonna go with Robin Lopez and Andrew Bynum. – [Seth] And if he wasn’t talking about Dwight, he was rapping. – Like I said before, you will get devoured.

But don’t you ever call me Dwight Howard. – [Seth] Dwight was still very sick of all of this. – Just sit back and relax. You know, you did your, your time is up. – [Seth] But something interesting and unexpected was happening. Dwight clashed with Kobe, and not in the we hate each other but we’re still winning way that Shaq did.

Howard’s performance flagged, the Lakers never really came together under Mike D’Antoni, and they flamed out early in the playoffs. That whole season, Shaq insisted his haranguing of Dwight was meant to motivate, to inspire him with anger, the same way Shaq’s elders had gotten him going. – I was taught to play with ferocity.

I need to be upset. You know, something has to be said in an article or on TV about me for me to respond. – [Seth] But Dwight, I think, correctly identified that his personality wasn’t like Shaq’s, nor was his style, nor was the environment in which he played.

He wanted heartfelt advice from Shaq, not motivational prodding, but he received nothing of the sort, not even when Shaq came to LA for his jersey retirement. Shaq rejected the idea of connecting with Dwight and continued sniping from afar. That continued as Howard’s career slumped further. Dwight moved on to the Rockets.

Shaq criticized him for it, still insisting he was trying to motivate the big guy, not pick on him, but I don’t know, this just feels like picking on him. In early 2016, a struggling Dwight hired Shaq’s agent, which led to rumors the two big guys would work together on rehabilitating Howard’s reputation.

But when Dwight visited the TNT Studio for a pretty intimate, vulnerable interview, Shaq was elsewhere (beep) posting on Twitter. The beef has only gotten dumber in the years since, during which Howard has bounced from team to team alternating injuries with okay-ish performance. Dwight is still impersonating Shaq like really a lot.

– Well, you gotta get his name right. Uh, uh, Charles. – [Seth] Shaq is still rapping about Dwight. – Last man who called himself Superman still ain’t got no rings! – [Seth] And when Dwight got roasted on an episode of “Wild ‘N Out,” Shaq jumped all over it,

Igniting a very stupid back and forth. When Dwight started the ’18-’19 season with an injured butt, Shaq absolutely loved it. And just to add insult to a lot of injury, he went on to declare Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s new Superman. – I’m denouncing my Supermanship and I’m giving it to the Greek Freak.

– And that’s basically where the beef sits, after well over a decade of shifting goalposts. Dwight Howard first drew Shaq’s ire by imitating some of what made Shaq, Shaq. The fact that Dwight’s entrance into the spotlight coincided with Shaq’s demise only made the big man more prone to lashing out,

Shifting his target with every move Dwight made. Of course, the truth is that despite early appearances, some of them intentional, Dwight isn’t that much like Shaq. Among other things, he has failed to follow through on the early promise of his career, but Shaq hasn’t backed off at all.

This is a beef of ego. The elder player found the younger one disrespectful. The younger player found the older one cruel. Neither is particularly graceful in making his point, so we’ve ended up with a very long, very public, very stupid beef. So we’ve seen how Shaq can pick on NBA centers

He thinks are an inferior version of himself. When a center is even worse than that, Shaq can get pretty cruel. Clara will explain. – [Clara] JaVale McGee and Shaquille O’Neal, two NBA big men of different generations, different body shapes, and different skill levels, who did not particularly care for one another.

Shaquille O’Neal has been an analyst for most of JaVale’s career, but Shaq and JaVale do not have your average analyst-player relationship. They have a sort of big brother, little brother relationship. Not in the sense that Shaq looked out for JaVale or anything like that. No, no, no, certainly not.

More in the sense of Shaq teased JaVale until it became a real fight, so vicious, mom had to step in. Seriously, their moms got involved. Though this beef took place after Shaq retired, the centers did know each other as players a bit. In their first on-court meeting,

McGee was a rookie, Shaq was in his 17th year, and Shaq was unstoppable. He played so well, he bucked the notion he was getting too old for back-to-back games. He totally destroyed JaVale, which lines up. Shaq was a 14-time All-Star with four rings.

McGee was a rookie still learning to manage his giant body. There were no hard fouls, no words exchanged, no on-court beef at all, but Shaq wasn’t gonna be on-court for much longer. In 2011, Shaq retired and joined “Inside the NBA.” And just from the way he was introduced,

It’s clear he wasn’t going to be your typical analyst. – [Announcer] Shaquille O’Neal! – Please note the T-shirt design in which Shaq is not just a Greek god, but the other hosts are feeding him grapes. He soon debuted a completely new segment, “Shaqtin’ A Fool,”

A blooper reel in which he and the other hosts make fun of players for doing make-fun-able stuff. It could be seen as mean-spirited, and I’m sure players don’t love to be featured, but it’s packaged as nothing more than playful teasing. And like, come on, bloopers are funny.

Laughing at others makes me feel better about myself. And I’m not the only one because “Shaqtin’ A Fool” is super popular and has grown to include several 30-minute segments throughout the years. Shaq went after everyone, from end of the benchers to the best of them, nobody was safe.

And the guy who was especially not safe, JaVale McGee. From this authoritative goal tend, to this ill-advised no-look pass, to this bobbled alley-oop, McGee was on Shaqtin’ a lot. In fact, JaVale McGee has been on the most “Shaqtin’ A Fool” episodes out of anyone. Other guys have been on the show repeatedly,

But Shaq called JaVale his favorite, and even had a signature cadence when announcing his clips. – [Shaquille] Number three, JaVale McGee! – [Person 1] No! – [Person 2] Oh! – [Clara] JaVale would often appear more than once in an episode. Sometimes instead of showing five different players,

Shaq would just show five different JaVale mistakes. McGee’s the only player to win “Shaqtin’ A Fool MVP” more than once. He was featured so much, the other hosts started defending JaVale, pointing out when Shaq’s clips were kind of a stretch, like this questionable goal tend. – [Shaquille] See? – [Host] Actually,

That was a pretty good block. – [Shaquille] I don’t think that was goal tending. – [Host] I don’t think that was, Shaq, Shaq, I dunno. – [Clara] But their protests weren’t heeded, most likely, because Shaq was scream laughing too hard to hear anything. How’d JaVale feel about all this? Well, in 2013, he did an interview on “Inside the NBA,” and it seemed like everything was cool. Shaq was nice.

– All the type of stuff that you used to do, I used to do back in the day. So we just wanna say, continued success and we love you, brother. – [Clara] JaVale was funny. – No press is bad press, that’s all I gotta say.

– [Clara] JaVale did throw in some charged language. – What is it that you like about “Shaqtin’ A Fool”? – I don’t watch Shaqtin’ (beep), I mean, “Shaqtin’ A Fool.” – [Clara] But that didn’t do anything to slow Shaq down. Even JaVale getting injured didn’t slow Shaq down. In the 2013-’14 season, JaVale fractured his tibia and only played five games, yet he showed up on “Shaqtin'” four times, and received two mid-season awards, “Worst Moment” and the “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The award special was in March. JaVale hadn’t played since November. Did JaVale really deserve all this ridicule? He was making all these flubs, but as a player, he wasn’t that bad. With the Wizards, he gradually improved until he was a starter. He was in the dunk contest in 2011, and I gotta say,

He did not look like the embodiment of clumsiness when he dunked three balls at once. – [Commentator] Oh! (audience cheering) – In 2012, he was traded to Denver, where he played fewer minutes, but had some big games. Most notably, a playoff game where he grabbed 14 rebounds and scored 21 points, with showmanship.

He bounced around the league and struggled with injuries for a bit. But in 2016, he joined the Warriors and played the best basketball of his burgeoning career. And despite the fact that JaVale showed up on “Shaqtin’ A Fool” more than most players, he didn’t turn the ball over

That much more than other players. His turnover percentage during his Shaqtin’ years was in the 12 to 17% range, even dropping below 10% when he joined the Warriors. In contrast, Kendrick Perkins, another frequent Shaqtin’ star, had a turnover percentage in the high 20s,

Even getting up to 32% toward the end of his career. But what the stat sheet doesn’t reveal is just how spectacular it was when JaVale turned the ball over or otherwise messed up. He wasn’t a terrible player, but, my god, the fall is one thing,

But why throw the ball as hard as you can while falling? What instinct is that? Plus, it’s not like JaVale had a perfect reputation before Shaq went after him. In college, he once kicked the ball into the stands because he was upset at a foul call.

But hey, I’m sure we all have stuff we regret from college. In the pros, when McGee got his first triple-double, it took a long time to get that 10th point, even though the Wizards were running plays for him. When he finally got it, he celebrated by hanging on the rim and getting a tech, all while the Wizards were down by 20.

He did block 12 shots, but that wasn’t the story coming outta the game. The story was JaVale McGee is obnoxious. Whether he deserved it or not, McGee eventually revealed he actually wasn’t cool with being made fun of on national TV night after night.

But Shaq didn’t care and kept putting JaVale on the show, sometimes for pretty minor infractions. When Kenny tried to defend this clip of JaVale getting a steal but missing a layup, Shaq just shouted his lack of journalistic integrity over him. – [Kenny] That wasn’t that bad.

– [Shaquille] Yeah, I know, it don’t matter. – [Kenny] You know what? I have a feeling. – [Person] No, it’s personal, Kenny. – Then Shaq noticed McGee’s new haircut. In response, JaVale accused Shaq of acting like a minstrel, comparing his chicken outfit to that worn by Bert Williams.

Bert Williams was the first Black comedian on Broadway, but he also had to wear blackface and play demeaning roles for all white audiences. Shaq responded in what, I’m assuming, was an attempt to lighten the mood without losing the upper hand. Then Shaq fired back a little harder.

He aired a new segment just for JaVale McGee. It was a loose parody of the “Doctor Strange” movie trailer that strung together over a minute of JaVale McGee lowlights, many we had seen previously on “Shaqtin’ A Fool,” including this fallen toss move from his Denver days. The segment was too much for JaVale,

Who headed back to Twitter with an expressive message for the veteran big man. He also implied Shaq was weird for thinking about him first thing in the morning, but he was tweeting all this at 4:00 AM. Shaq responded, and while it’s never a good idea

To put threats of violence in writing, you gotta remember, Shaq threatened to smack people all the time, especially Charles Barkley. JaVale replied with the charged language we’ve seen from him before. Shaq accused JaVale of only having confidence because he’s on the Warriors. JaVale said Shaq makes fun of him

Whether he’s on a good team or not, in his own words, of course. Also, JaVale called himself a grown man. In the same sentence, he talked about nuts in mouth via emoji, just something I found interesting. Shaq implied some violence again as his want to do, and added some hashtags

Calling McGee a few different kinds of asses. Five minutes later, he hit JaVale with a nickname and a Photoshop job that’s rude but impressive for just five minutes. He had to source the photos and everything. Later that day during business hours, the Warriors reached out to Turner Sports

To talk about Shaq picking on JaVale. And Turner was like, “Yeah, we know.” After the Warriors practice that same day, Steve Kerr defended his center and went on to say, “Shaqtin’ A Fool” was actually doing damage to JaVale’s reputation, using himself as an example. Kevin Durant also fielded JaVale questions,

Sticking up for his teammate, and adding that Shaq had some unfortunate moments of his own. Shaq definitely did not want this beef to spill over to KD, but he had no intention of laying off JaVale. While Kerr and Durant couldn’t get through to Shaq, there was one person who could, his mom.

Lucille O’Neal told Shaq to leave JaVale alone. She was defensive of her son’s show, but felt the Twitter feud crossed the line. Since moms were allowed in on the beef, JaVale’s mom spoke up too. Pam McGee is a former WNBA player and a college star who won back-to-back NCAA championships.

Her reputation had shielded her son from criticism in the past, and she did not exactly agree with Lucille O’Neal’s characterization of “Shaqtin’ A Fool.” Shaq said he’d listen to his mom, though it should be noted he also never admitted he did anything wrong.

A few months later, JaVale did more than simply not mess up. He won a championship. He was a contributor off the bench throughout the playoffs, including scoring 16 points in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. And perhaps best of all, Shaq was true to his word and left JaVale alone.

Though you might think spraying champagne directly at a camera at close range would be too much for Shaq to ignore. The next year, JaVale and the Warriors won it all again, but he still hadn’t escaped the damage “Shaqtin'” had done to his rep. His championship status was often an afterthought

To his time as the unwilling star of “Shaqtin’.” He joined the Lakers in 2019, and his younger teammates look up to him, but also say things like, “He’s actually a student of the game. He actually knows basketball.” These should be inappropriate things to say about a center with two rings.

Despite the lingering effects, it seems the beef has run its course. Shaq has gone so far as to say he has no beef and things never got outta hand with JaVale, despite written evidence to the contrary. And to this day, Shaq hasn’t featured JaVale on “Shaqtin’ A Fool” again.

He even complimented a JaVale highlight in 2018. – [Shaquille] This is a great play right here. JaVale McGee! He’s back! JaVale McGee is back! – [Clara] This playful turned nasty beef has been put in a Tupperware container and shoved to the back of the fridge.

Sure, there’ll always be a faint smell on JaVale due to “Shaqtin'” but the beef won’t ever be fresh again. – Thank you so much for watching or rewatching all these Shaq beefs. And if you’re like, “Hey, what about that really big, really famous beef Shaq had with his teammate Kobe Bryant?”

Guess what? We made a whole movie about it. – [Person] We did it. – Got it in one. (Seth laughing) – [Person] We did it.

Shaq is the king of beef. Among NBA greats, Shaq stands out for his love of generating individual rivalries and picking petty little fights with those rivals. Join us for a walk through Shaq’s various, overlapping feuds and see what makes him the beefiest.

Produced by Seth Rosenthal
Directed by Ryan Simmons
Segments produced by Clara Morris and Seth Rosenthal
Segments edited by Charlotte Atkinson, Alex Hawley, Ryan Simmons and Jiazhen Zhang

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