Hall of Fame inductees Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony headline 2025‘s class with a future Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers forward, LeBron James, in the attendance. Howard and James were teammates of the 2008 United States men's basketball team, which was immortalized as part of the 2025's Hall of Fame class, and as members of the 2020 champion Lakers squad. Amid Dwight's speech, James and the Lakers received a special shout out.

Howard, while referring to his latter years in the association, addressed his two-season tenure with the Lakers, which culminated in his only NBA championship in 2020 before rejoining the club in 2021-22 for his final season in the league.

“My basketball travels took me to Los Angeles — the last stop of my NBA journey. So, I want to give a shoutout. Uh oh,” Howard said to loud ovation from the crowd as if they could see where he was going with his speech. “Did I wake up a monster in here? Lakers Nation is in the building. Shout out to Dr. Buss and the Buss family, and the Rambis family, for always supporting me. OK. Thank you. Oh, LeBron is here. LeBron James is in the building. Thank you for coming, boy,” Howard concluded.

Howard was an eight-time All-Star, three-time Defensive Player of the Year recipient, five-time rebounding champion, and two-time block champion, who was named to five All-Defensive Teams throughout his 18 NBA seasons.

Shaquille O'Neal gives Dwight Howard his flowers at Hall of Fame

Shaquille O'Neal laughs while standing next to Los Angeles Lakers player Dwight Howard during the slam dunk contest during NBA All Star Saturday Night at United Center
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Article Continues Below

Hall of Fame center and NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal buried his old beef with Dwight Howard long before the 2025 Hall of Fame induction. While on tap as Howard's presenter, O'Neal gave Howard his flowers for an impressive career.

O'Neal discussed Howard with NBATV's Dennis Scott.

“It’s big for him, it’s big for his family, it’s big for the ‘Big Man Alliance,’ of which I am the reigning president. It’s big, I’m happy for him,” O’Neal said. “It wasn’t that we had a problem. You know my leadership style, I learned it from you. I’m hard on guys to motivate them. Some people can take it, some people can’t. But when we met I told him, it’s never hard feelings, I just did that to make him angry. Whenever I made him angry, he played well.”

It was a special day for Howard, as one of the elite centers of his time entered the Basketball Hall of Fame.