Shaq has made it no secret that he thinks Howard's career has been a fraud, ripped directly from Shaq's own NBA path, which does hold some merit when you consider Howard's career timeline.
Howard began his career in the same city that O'Neal once dominated, adopted or stole Shaq's Superman moniker and is now set to thrill the masses in the same city where O'Neal built his legacy.
As you could imagine, Shaq is not too thrilled with Howard's latest venture, and he cast yet another barb in Howard's direction during a recent interview reported by the LA Times.
"I have three sons and I always tell them that if you want to call yourself big, then you have big shoes to fill. Anybody who calls himself big has big shoes to fill. Right now, he's off pace. He has to get himself on pace if he wants to call himself big."
Shaq's reference to Howard can hardly be described as a vote of confidence for the approaching season, and one of the least-probed aspects surrounding the new-look Lakers is Howard's ability to deal with what could be a constant barrage of criticism from O'Neal.
Especially when you consider Shaq's long reach as a TNT analyst.
Every misstep or failure by Howard will be overly scrutinized from a national platform by O'Neal, and the only way that Howard can potentially turn him off will be to realize his promise as a Laker.
One of the reasons O'Neal has been so critical of Howard is that he is the only player who has recently had the same type of impact at his position.
The mirror-like career paths have not helped matters, but Shaq's disdain for Howard is probably greater now because ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
