"Shaq is pissed": Fans react to Dwight Howard’s First-Ballot Hall of Fame announcement

Dwight Howard has been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025. ESPN insider Shams Charania broke the news on Friday.

Howard got in on the first ballot and joins Carmelo Anthony in this year's class. The complete HOF class will be announced on Saturday.

Howard is an eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, a 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, and an Olympic gold medalist with Team USA.

Fans quickly went to social media primarily to add some more fuel to the fire in the Shaquille O'Neal-Howard decades-long beef.

"Shaq is pissed," one fan wrote.

"Shaq right now," a fan commented with a gif of The Rock having a meltdown.

More fans continued to comment about Shaq and his possible reaction to the news.

"Someone check on Shaq," one fan said.

"First person to hate will be Shaq," another fan commented.

Meanwhile, other fans earnestly congratulated Dwight Howard after the Hall of Fame news.

"Absolutely well deserved!!! One of the greatest of all time. 💯💯" one fan proclaimed.

"Well deserved. Congrats to Superman" another fan said.

Dwight Howard opened up on beef with Shaq

The beef between Shaq and Dwight Howard goes back to the beginning of Howard's career when he entered the NBA straight from high school as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Shaq was drafted as the first overall pick in the 1992 draft by the Orlando Magic and played for the franchise from 1992-1996 before leaving to team up with Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers.

As soon as Howard entered the league, he received comparisons to Shaq's dominance and was also bestowed the nickname "Superman." Since then, there has been some animosity on both sides.

Howard said in January during a conversation on Ray Daniels’ “The GAUDs Show" that he's fed up with the beef with Shaq and doesn't even know why there is beef to begin with.

“Never disrespected him,” Howard said. “But he’s always had something to say. There’s times where I’ve gotten upset and I’m like, ‘Yo, Shaq, this gotta stop, man.’ I tried to [talk to him].”

Howard said he never tried to be Shaq at any level, but he does give credit to him for being the most dominant center ever.

“That’s the thing that I hate the most is the fact that he always thought I was trying to be him or be like him,” Howard said. “But again, if I wanted to be you or be like you, shouldn’t you take that as a compliment and to show how great you are as a player or a person?

"I ain’t never wanted to be Shaq at any level. Now, have I wanted to take certain things from him, his life and implement in my life? Hell yeah. I do that with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, all these people.”

It will be interesting to see exactly how Shaq reacts to Dwight Howard's Hall of Fame induction.