04/26/24
October 05, 2012
Dwight Howard to Shaq: 'Your Time is Up': After ignoring criticism by Shaquille O'Neal for years, new Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard responded with anger after O'Neal recently compared him unfavorably to Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez. "Shaq played the game and he is done," Howard told reporters Thursday. "It's time to move on. He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he's doing the exact same thing. Just let it go. There's no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up."
posted by rcade to basketball at 11:58 AM - 3 comments
Shaq listened to his detractors and eventually lead multiple teams to NBA Championships.
I don't think it's fair to say that attitude change was why he won multiple championships; a combination of Phil Jackson/Kobe Bryant and Pat Riley/Dwayne Wade had something to do with it too. Add other hall-of-famers and you win is a pretty good strategy.
Shaq has always been Shaq and the "shut up and play" thing was never his strong suit. In fact, he also did Stan Van Gundy in before winning with the Heat. The parallels are kind of silly between the two.
Howard's got what Shaq got in LA; now it's about putting up, but Shaq really does need to let it go. Howard's star power doesn't diminish Shaq's legacy and he needs to stop acting like it's impartial advice because it's not. Shaq wants to always be the big man and now that he's gone, Howard has a chance of becoming that.
posted by dfleming at 02:36 PM on October 05, 2012
Howard should continue to ignore Shaq, who has attempted to diminish lots of people.
Including the professor that schooled him in the 1995 Finals, Olajuwon.
Then there was Shaq's marquee appearance as a human traffic cone in the 2004 Finals. He has at best earned only a partial right to be commenting on the game worthiness of other players.
posted by beaverboard at 04:59 PM on October 05, 2012
Howard has a point, but he's also missing a point.
Shaq listened to his detractors and eventually lead multiple teams to NBA Championships. If Howard takes some advice and adjusts his altitude he also has the talent to become a winner.