"He's dunking on everybody" - Despite beef, Dwight Howard honors Shaquille O'Neal by ranking him among all-time dunkers

For years, Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal have traded verbal jabs at each other. Now and then, one of these elite big men surprises hoops fans by saying something complimentary to the other.

Howard did just that on Monday's episode of "Podcast P with Paul George." On this episode, co-host Jackie Long asked Howard for his reaction to a FOX Sports list of the best dunkers in NBA history — a list that did not include the one-time NBA champion. Howard went on to enumerate his best NBA dunkers of all time:

"Vince has to be in that list. Dominique has to be in that list. You gotta have Jordan, you gotta have Shaq," Howard said. "Shaq, he was dunking on everybody, breaking rims." [Timestamp - 1:21:29]

Though O'Neal never won the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest like Howard did in 2008, he struck fear into opponents' hearts whenever he rose and slammed the ball with ferocity. Since his college days, Shaq has done more than bend rims out of shape — he has shattered glass boards and caused the misalignment of stanchions.

Ironically, hostile feelings between the two began to brew in earnest during the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest. At this event, Howard famously donned a Superman jersey and cape—a move that rubbed Shaq the wrong way, as the four-time NBA champion had once used the Superman moniker.

It remains to be seen whether O'Neal, who works as an analyst on "Inside the NBA," will be able to stick to his promise last month of never mentioning Howard's name again, in light of Howard's praise for him.

Dwight Howard clears the air on "Superman" nickname

On multiple occasions, Shaq has made it clear that the use of the "Superman" nickname was a sticking point in his dealings with Howard. For his part, Howard has clarified that the nickname was given to him by other people for some very specific reason:

"The Superman for me came from all the things I was doing in the community," Howard explained on the Jan. 30 episode of the "7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony" podcast. "It came from me jumping over teammates, me doing stuff in the weight room. All these different things is why they were calling me Superman." [Timestamp - 2:41]

Howard went on to claim that he never gave himself any of the colorful nicknames that have been attributed to him during his NBA career. That includes the moniker that ticked off the Diesel.