Less than 12 hours ago, Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal aired their beef in a social media exchange. The former was labeled “sensitive” while the latter got tagged “insecure”. Now that things seem to have calmed down, the 3x DPOY wants nothing but positivity with Shaq’s feud. But, it’s not the first time that peace has been tried to be reinstated. It’s the same old story presented with different words.

“Btw I don’t want people get entertained by two black man going back and forth over petty stuff. I don’t want to bicker I just want to settle this like the two successful HOF black men we are! You the most dominant center of all time! Come on to the podcast and let’s hash this out 💯.” The former NBA champion wrote on X, once again suggesting there is no point in continuing the back-and-forth. Even during his stint on DWTS, he tried to reach out to Shaquille O’Neal through a mutual.

“During Dancing with the Stars, somebody said that they’re really close with Shaq… I said, ‘Hey, man, do you mind sending Shaq a message to try to figure out, like, yo, what’s up… Can we have a sit-down conversation?'” But it did not lead to anything fruitful. So will this attempt be any different? In fact, in January last year, Dwight Howard did the same thing by using social media to mediate things peacefully between the two.

“I never had a problem with you so can we finally end this as adults,” wrote the 8x All-Star on January 19. And the response he got from Shaquille O’Neal may have seemed funny at first, but its deeper meaning wasn’t. “nope lol.” was all Shaq had to say. So, it seems the battle of words would continue, just like it erupted a few hours ago.

Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal’s jabs had no winner

“@DwightHoward the fact u think I care about u is funny, but I won’t ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke. Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now u have been deleted. Have a great day. #inevercared #trustme #dontneedvalidationyoudo #stayoffpodcasts #thefactyouthinkicareisfunny #yougottashowrespecttogetrespect #nowyouredeadtome”

This was Shaquille O’Neal’s long message about his feelings for Dwight Howard. A few hours after this, D12 replied, “I know you care. Cuz yo insecure a– been hating and talking shit for 20 years. You to big to be this insecure. I hope you don’t bring my name up again.” In the same tweet, he mentioned Shaq’s previous issues with former teammates, Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, and Dwyane Wade.

But hours after labeling him insecure, Howard wants to end this beef. As stated before, his previous comments from January 2024 did not yield positive results, so will 2025 change anything? Or it will be a typical Shaq response?