The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Shaquille O’Neal created a stink recently about Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard being called ‘Superman.’ Shaq reminded that ‘Superman’ used to be his nickname earlier in his career.
Maybe he just forgot to apply for the copyright.
TNT reporter, David Aldridge, asked Howard about O’Neal’s comments during TNT’s All-Star Game pre-game show:
David Aldridge: “We talked yesterday about the whole thing with Shaq and Superman, and you said you wanted Shaq to be a mentor to you. You wanted him to show you the ropes, show you about the things that he did and the things that you’re going through. Would you reach out to him and say, ‘Hey, this is what I need from you, Big Fella?’ ”
Dwight Howard: “Well, I’m just going to continue to play basketball. There’s no beef between [us] — I don’t have any problems against him. The whole Superman thing, there’s no battle of nicknames. I mean, if he wants to be Superman, he can be Superman. But I never tried to steal that title from him or take away anything that he’s done for the game of basketball.
“I would like, instead of people fighting over a nickname, for us to be able to talk about what it’s like to win a championship. Just little things that him being who he is can help me [with]. But I never tried to do anything to be like him. I’m my own person. I just love to have fun, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s brought to the game of basketball, and I would just ask that somebody like Shaquille O’Neal help me become a better basketball player and a better person.”
Just like “Superman” to take the moral high road and operate in humility. The psychology behind competition sometimes causes things to go too far, leading to unnecessary beefing off the platform of play, Howard, a professed Christian, would stand to lose more than he’d gain by perpetuating the nonsense — especially when he has fresh baby mama drama to deal with. Shaq may come off looking pretty petty after this. –gerald radford
