Any notions of Dwight Howard ignoring Shaquille O’Neal’s continual dismissal of the New Man of Steele were put to rest today when DH fired a warning shot across the nose of the OG Superman.
Howard made sure that the night Shaq’s jersey is retired at Staples will be filled with plenty of drama before the opening tip. Superman II didn’t pull any punches on where he stands with regards to O’Neal.
"“I don’t care what Shaq says. Shaq played the game and he is done. 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.”"
Normally I’d tell Howard to just ignore Shaq and move on. As we all know few players love stirring the pot quite like O’Neal. There were instances when Shaq was a Laker that it felt like he loved drama and reveled in it when it was simmering.
However times are different now. Ignoring Shaq the player is one thing. Trying to tune out Shaq the TNT commentator is quite another.
Now that OG Superman has license to run his mouth there is no ignoring what he says. If you miss the live version of anything Shaq says there will no doubt be internet posts on blogs the next morning, headlines in papers and plenty of barbershop talk as well.
None the less it is refreshing to see Howard take a stand. Being that Dwight cared so much about his image in Orlando it will be nice to see how he responds to being viewed as a villain in Los Angeles. Dwight can no more control what people think of him than he can what Shaq says. So instead of taking it on the chin, DH threw a haymaker.
And if I may. Well done, Dwight. You said what many of us have been thinking for years. Shaq does need to move on. Problem is Shaq is out of the game just not away from it. Therefore we should all get comfortable, settle in and prepare for another batch of Lakers drama fresh from the oven.