Four years later, Shaquille O’Neal still bitter over Dwight Howard’s ‘Superman’ stunt

The comments started out subtle and almost light-hearted, with Shaq half-jokingly referring to Glenn Davis as “the best big man on the Orlando Magic.”

Then Shaq continued, even with Kenny Smith attempting to calm him down, referring to 23-year-old breakout forward Ryan Anderson as “the best player on the Magic.”

After that, Shaq’s comments became blatant. Ernie Smith, the only broadcaster at the table without experience as an NBA player, provoked him with a Tweet that read “really glad [Shaq] is over that whole Superman thing.”

To which Shaq replied “I guess all you have to do is win a slam-dunk contest to be called Superman.”

O’Neal’s microphone was shutoff midway through his last word of the sentence and the TNT halftime show rushed to commercial.

This is hardly the first time Shaq has used his new position as an analyst with TNT to criticize Howard. Just last week, when each member of his broadcast team was asked to pick the best big man in the league – a title that is almost always indisputably given to Howard – Shaq chose Lakers center Andrew Bynum. Bynum has averaged 10.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game over his six-year career, and has only played one full season. Howard, in comparison, has averaged 18.2 points and 12.9 in his career and has been named NBA defensive player of the year three times.

After hearing Shaq’s comments, Howard responded told reporters that he thinks Shaq should just move on.

“I wish he’d just sit down and get on with his life,” Howard said.

Howard assumed the Superman nickname after donning the costume and cape during his winning performance at the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest. Shaq had held the nickname since the mid-1990’s, and had taken it on as part of his identity. He has a tattoo of the Superman logo on his arm, and, as an episode of MTV Cribs once showed, his custom-made, oversized bed is in the shape of the logo with the Superman “S” embroidered on the blanket.