Guess Which Ex-Lakers Center Has Criticized Dwight Howard's Taiwan Numbers

Title-winning Hall of Fame former Los Angeles Lakers centers Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard have never much cared for one another.

It might all stem from their similar career trajectories: both were No. 1 picks by the Orlando Magic, both adopted the moniker of "Superman" (although the Howard nickname was pretty clearly a direct rip-off of the Shaq nickname), both wound up on the Lakers where they quickly grew to butt heads with Kobe Bryant, and both would ultimately win at least one championship with the Lakers.

There's no question as to who enjoyed the better pro career, if this really is the end of Howard's run. O'Neal, a 15-time All-Star, was a league MVP and won four NBA titles as the best or second-best player on a team. Howard, an eight-time All-Star, was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and a one-time runner-up for league MVP, and he did win a title as a rotation player on a championship club. Both wound up being well-traveled following their initial Lakers runs, though Howard would wind up having three separate L.A. stints. Most recently, he was a serviceable backup center for Los Angeles during the team's ill-fated 33-49 2021-22 NBA season.

After a new NBA contract did not materialize this offseason, the 36-year-old Howard decided to heade overseas to continue his pro career, signing with the Taoyuan Leopards of Taiwan's T1 League. In his debut contest for the Leopard, Howard scored 38 points, nabbed 25 rebounds, dished out nine dimes, and blocked nine shots.

O'Neal was thoroughly unimpressed by Howard's output, offering some context to the numbers on his show The Big Podcast With Shaq, in a conversation with co-hosts Spice Adams and Nischelle Turner.