As Howard grows in stature, Shaq shrinks
Some highlights (and the basic sentiment of the article):
So why does Shaq get such glee out of belittling and ridiculing those centers who came before and after him?
“Sometimes I wonder about his maturity,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told Yahoo! Sports on Friday. “He doesn’t need to do that. He’s achieved so much.
“I don’t know why he stoops to that.”
Abdul-Jabbar doesn’t need Shaq’s approval, but Howard is 23 years old and Shaq owes it to the league, to common decency, to be civil with this kid. His treatment of Howard has been kind of sad, especially considering that Howard grew up wanting to be him.
“I can’t tell you why he’s said a lot of discouraging things,” Howard said Friday at the Staples Center. “I wish he wouldn’t say it because he’s one of the few guys that we all look up to.”
For most, O’Neal’s motives are transparent. Somehow, Shaq thinks it diminishes his own legacy if Howard achieves something significant sooner than he did.
It’s funny, but Jordan never takes offense that Bryant and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade emulate him. To Michael, it was an honor. He embraces it. He always believed that was his responsibility to pass wisdom and encouragement to the next generation’s icons. Julius Erving did it for him. And Michael does it for them.
Lost in that rap was the line, “That’s like Kareem saying to himself that he’s better than me.” Well, remember this: Abdul-Jabbar averaged 22 points and eight rebounds on a Laker championship team when he was 37 years old. When I asked him how that lyric made him feel, Abdul-Jabbar said, “The gratuitous insult? I considered the source and I slept very well that night.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar doesn’t need Shaq’s approval, nor his validation. Yet all Dwight Howard ever wanted was to be the next Shaquille O’Neal, and when did that become a crime for a young basketball player? Michael Jordan always had been secure enough in his legacy, his greatness, to embrace Kobe and LeBron.
So, yes, you have to wonder: Will Shaq ever be?
Now, I certainly respect all that Shaq has done as a professional basketball player. I'm sure that to his friends and family, he's a top guy. He's also done some very admirable things as far as charity is concerned. He's hardly one of your classic sports "villains" and while he sometimes comes off as abrasive, he's also shown great character and has been one of the league's most entertaining personalities since he made his debut in 1992. I wholeheartedly agree with Wojnarowski's opening paragraph that lauds his greatness and like all greats, his name remains bound to the NBA Finals even when he's not involved.
But this stuff with Dwight Howard is Shaq at his worst. It's embarrassingly childish, petty and without class. At 37 and being one of the league's "elder statesmen", he really should carry himself with a bit more dignity but instead it's Howard who's showing maturity in the whole affair. Also, if Shaq is that insecure about his legacy then that's kind of sad because he is unquestionably one of the greatest and there's no harm in giving credit where credit is due. The fact that Shaq has become the yardstick for dominant big men is a compliment, not a knock on his greatness and if he sees it as the latter then that's a shame. I think Wojnarowski - and Kareem, for that matter - have hit the nail on the head here.
on you.
