Shaquille O’Neal denies Dwight Howard’s request to fight due to cocky reason

A new chapter in the longstanding beef between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal has come to light.

On the night of the much-anticipated boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, Howard challenged O’Neal to a fight.

However, O’Neal declined Howard’s request and cited a cocky reason as to why he didn’t want to throw hands with the one-time NBA champion.

Howard then seemed to respond to O’Neal with withering sarcasm.

Howard and O’Neal have taken plenty of shots at one another over the years. For example, back in 2023, Howard made headlines with where he ranked O’Neal in his personal list of the best defenders ever to don a Lakers uniform.

According to Howard, Anthony Davis is the greatest defender in team history, while the four-time NBA champion sits at the No. 10 spot.

O’Neal was when one of the better rim protectors in the league during his time playing for the storied Lakers franchise, as he averaged 2.5 blocks per game across 514 regular-season games played with the team. The most rejections per game that he averaged in a single season with Los Angeles came when he swatted away 3.0 per game in the 1999-00 campaign.

Also, back when Howard played in the T1 League in Taiwan during the 2022-23 season, O’Neal threw some criticism Howard’s way for the fact that his team had a record that was below the .500 mark.

Howard played 20 games in the league that season and averaged 23.2 points per contest while knocking down 57.7 percent of his two-point field goals.

The 38-year-old hasn’t played in the NBA since he played in 60 games with the Lakers in the 2021-22 regular season, yet it seems as if he’s trying to make a comeback to the league. With star big man Chet Holmgren down for the count with an injury, Howard made his pitch to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a recent podcast appearance.

Unfortunately for Lakers fans, it doesn’t seem as if Howard and O’Neal will squash their beef anytime soon.