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Shaquille O’Neal Will Not Present Dwight Howard At 2025 Hall Of Fame Induction originally appeared on Fadeaway World.

What was shaping up to be a poetic full-circle moment in NBA history has taken an unexpected turn. Shaquille O’Neal, who had reportedly agreed to present Dwight Howard at the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame induction, will no longer be doing so. Instead, Howard will be honored by a legendary cast that includes Dominique Wilkins, Robert Parish, Dennis Rodman, and Patrick Ewing.

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The change, which was first reported just days ahead of the ceremony, has sent ripples through the basketball world, not just because of the names involved, but because of what it symbolizes.

Howard and Shaq had one of the most public and bitter beefs in modern NBA history. For over a decade, O’Neal criticized Howard’s game, personality, and even his right to use the “Superman” nickname, which both big men made iconic in their own eras.

But in recent months, things seemed to have turned around. Back in April, Howard had posted that he wanted Shaq, Kevin Garnett, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to “walk him out” at the Hall of Fame.

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He even gave interviews stating how excited he was that Shaq would be presenting him, going so far as to call it a dream come true.

“Whatever he says will be amazing. I’m looking forward to that day.”

The two had reportedly squashed their beef, where they spoke face-to-face and buried their long-standing differences. That reconciliation led to speculation and confirmation that Shaq would be among Howard’s presenters.

Now, that appears to have fallen through. Whether due to a scheduling issue, a last-minute change of heart, or something behind the scenes, Shaq is officially off the list.

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Neither O’Neal nor Howard has publicly addressed the change, but it’s certainly raised eyebrows among fans who were eager to witness the symbolic passing of the torch from one dominant center to the next.

Despite the absence of Shaq, Howard won’t be lacking in support. His list of presenters features some of the greatest big men to ever play the game, Ewing, Wilkins, Rodman, and Parish, each of whom reflects different aspects of Howard’s legacy: defense, rebounding, athleticism, and tenacity. Their presence ensures that his enshrinement will still carry the reverence and recognition he deserves.

Howard’s Hall of Fame induction comes after a remarkable 18-year NBA career where he averaged 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game, while shooting nearly 59% from the field. He made eight All-Star appearances, was named Defensive Player of the Year three times, and led the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. For all the criticism he received, Howard’s resume is undeniable.

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In the end, even without Shaq beside him, Dwight Howard enters the Hall with the full weight of his accomplishments and with a supporting cast of legends who know exactly what it means to dominate the paint.

Related: “I Got 4 White Girlfriends”: Shaquille O’Neal Gets Real On His Polyamorous Relationship

This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Aug 7, 2025, where it first appeared.

There aren’t many advertising campaigns that elicit responses from the US president and vice-president, the senator Ted Cruz and the rappers Doja Cat and Lizzo. But the Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney’s recent ad for American Eagle denim has done just that.

Critics have interpreted the campaign as promoting eugenics, defenders have taken the backlash as evidence of so-called “woke” culture in the extreme and scrutinising it has taken on the trappings of a cottage industry. “Clocking in for my shift at the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle opinion factory,” the journalist Hunter Harris wrote on her Substack.

It comes in a long line of provocative jeans adverts, some objectively controversial or offensive, others more subjectively so.

A 1973 campaign from Jesus Jeans that featured the slogan “you shall have no other jeans before me” sparked discussion for its use of religiosity to sell clothes. The Italian anti-consumerist film director Pier Paolo Pasolini even wrote an essay on the subject in which he said the slogan “takes the form of a nemesis – although unintentionally – that punishes the church for its pact with the devil”.

A series of 1980s Calvin Klein jeans adverts raised hackles for their use of young female models in sexually suggestive guises. “You know what gets between me and my Calvin’s? Nothing,” mused a 15-year-old Brooke Shields in 1980, in a video directed and shot by Richard Avedon.

In another Calvin Klein campaign from 1995, which was criticised for alluding to child exploitation, models including Kate Moss were filmed as they undid their jeans and were asked: “Are you nervous?”

“Calvin made millions,” said Allen Adamson, an author and branding expert. “He was the first one to really understand that buzz and controversy and being disruptive could sell denim.” The Shields campaign was reportedly a huge success, with many customers going into shops to ask for the “Brooke Shields jeans”.

Levi’s also has a history of setting tongues wagging. The famous Nick Kamen ad from the 80s, in which he strips down to his underwear in a laundrette so he can wash his 501s, turned the straight male gaze of most mainstream ads on its head by making the object of desire a male model. According to the fashion historian Tony Glenville: “It was massive and made it even into spoofs on comedy shows. It made a huge impact on sales and jeans sales generally.”

Levi’s made its mark again in 1995 with a campaign in which the Filipino-American fashion designer Zaldy, sitting in the back of a New York taxi in drag, seems to shock the sweaty, lecherous driver ogling her by shaving her chin mid-drive. Landing at a time when there was a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in advertising, the Advertising Standards Authority reportedly came close to banning it.

According to the retail marketing expert Catherine Shuttleworth, campaigns designed to turn heads evolve from a need to “cut through”. “Good advertising creates cut through, and when it comes to advertising for clothing, it’s really hard to grab people’s attention,” she said.

Cutting through in the social media age is arguably much harder than before given the fragmentation of media. Adamson said: “It’s very expensive to reach consumers through traditional media, so you need social media to break through,” especially to reach younger consumers.

But given the fact that “no one shares anything ordinary on social media,” it needs to be bold. “People only share something extraordinary or different or offensive,” he said. “To really get talked about on social media, you have to ruffle feathers.”

For jeans this is particularly important. “The basic challenge is that they’ve been around forever”, said Adamson. “There is little to no product difference. People can talk about the fit or the stitching. It’s basically denim.”

Glenville agreed: “Sometimes the actual jeans can be a bit dull. It’s packaging within the advertising, it’s styling and narrative that sells them.”

More so than in the past, the market for denim is also saturated. “The denim market in America is ginormous,” said Shuttleworth. “You’ve got to do something that makes you stand out from the pack. And so I think a lot of those companies will take risks.”

Even going as far as to get your ad banned might be a good thing, she said. “By getting it banned, everybody talks about it [but] if you get it wrong, suddenly you could have a long-term problem where people boycott your products.”

For Adamson, the worst possible scenario for fashion advertising is that “no one notices or no one cares”.

It’s too early to know what the Sweeney ad’s impact on direct sales will be, but it’s clear that people noticed and cared, andit doesn’t seem to have been bad for business. American Eagle shares climbed 23% in a week, even as commentators began to move on to the next: a Levi’s ad in which Beyoncé wears a blonde wig and red lipstick moved the conservative commentator Megyn Kelly to take umbrage and Piers Morgan to accuse the singer of “culturally appropriating” Marilyn Monroe.

Artem Lobov delivered a surprising message for Conor McGregor on Tuesday despite their ongoing multimillion-dollar whiskey war.

Lobov was once as vital to McGregor’s camp as head coach John Kavanagh. The two weren’t just sparring partners who bloodied each other in Dublin’s Straight Blast Gym. They were brothers.

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“We always had each other’s back,” Lobov told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday. “I showed him unmatched loyalty. Who was more loyal to him than I was? I did everything for him.”

That bond shattered over a handshake agreement Lobov says McGregor broke — a promise to give him a cut of McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve profits when the whiskey brand was sold.

Lobov, who says he turned down payment for years of sparring with McGregor, claims he co-founded the product. He researched the market, convinced McGregor to ignore calls for a premium release that would have priced out the working man, and spotted the gap for an affordable bottle instead. He claims he also fought against an “option” deal that capped profits far below market value — a move he says would’ve cost McGregor millions.

According to Lobov, McGregor shook his hand and guaranteed him 5% “no matter what.” And so, when Proxima Spirits bought the brand for $600 million, McGregor reportedly received $130 million. Lobov feels he should have received a $6.5 million share.

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The arrangement had worked before. Lobov says a TV deal he set up for McGregor paid far more than expected, and McGregor rewarded him with a 233% bonus. “Whenever we did camps, I was the only one who never accepted a cent,” Lobov said. “I’d say, ‘Conor, I’m not taking this. You’re my brother.’”

But with Proper No. Twelve, he says the betrayal cut deeper. “I put the biggest piece of meat on Conor’s table and he wouldn’t cut me a tiny slice so my family could eat,” Lobov says.

The dispute is now in Ireland’s High Court. Lobov is suing for the $6.5 million, with a trial set for December. “He knows I’m in the right and f***in’ me over,” Lobov says. McGregor denies the claims.

It’s not just money Lobov wants. He wants acknowledgement. “They booted me to the side, no recognition, nothing,” he says, accusing McGregor’s manager Audie Attar of driving a wedge in their friendship. “I want to show who was a true and loyal friend, and who was a snake.”

The feud resurfaced during Lobov’s Tuesday appearance on Uncrowned, where he also announced a long-awaited return to fighting — his first professional MMA bout since 2018.

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“Seven years in the making,” he wrote Monday on social media, alongside a poster for his return match with Zubaira Tukhugov. “Time to get revenge.”

Lobov had turned down offers to fight before, he says. He wasn’t interested unless the purse was big or the opponent was right. But PFL executive Mike Kogan had that opponent ready for him, and so they agreed to a swift, one-fight deal. Lobov will fight Tukhogov in Dubai at a PFL event on Oct. 3.

Their history runs back to 2018, when former UFC lightweight champion and fierce McGregor rival Khabib Nurmagomedov confronted Lobov over comments he made while defending McGregor. “If somebody called your friend a chicken in Russia, it’s more severe … you’d respond,” Lobov says.

It escalated when Nurmagomedov confronted Lobov a second time — this time with “a gang of people.” Tukhogov was there, backing Nurmagomedov up, screaming, “Let’s go, one-on-one,” Lobov says. The UFC almost booked a bout between Lobov and Tukhogov, but canceled those plans after the Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor feud exploded into one of the most volatile in UFC history.

Lobov says Tukhogov has “never looked that brave” in the cage, accusing him of relying on wrestling and “tapping out” under pressure. Outside the cage, though, Lobov points to his opponent’s powerful connections in Russia — alleged ties to controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov — which make a street fight a foolish proposition to accept. “Who wants that? Let’s do it like real men, one-on-one … let’s get in the cage and settle it like professional fighters,” Lobov says.

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Seven years later, they will.

Meanwhile, Lobov’s old friend McGregor has his own fights ahead of him. He’s teased a political run in Ireland — something Lobov thinks should be postponed. “He needs to stop messing [around]get back into the gym, and get fit,” Lobov says. “The way forward is grappling. Just grapple. It’s fun, it’ll get your body ready for fighting again. He needs his mojo back.”

It’s hard to imagine McGregor taking Lobov’s advice, as he’s recently called Lobov a “rat.”

“This is a different Conor,” Lobov says. “I don’t even recognize him.”

Still, Lobov believes if McGregor rededicates himself, it won’t be long before he books the rematch he’s craved since 2018. If McGregor returns to the UFC and secures himself a knockout win, then Lobov is convinced it would lure Nurmagomedov back to the sport too. “Khabib would come back for that fight,” Lobov says. “The whole world would be talking about [their rematch]. That would be a comeback fight for the ages.”

Though Lobov is resigned to the change in McGregor, he appears to still hope that he changes back.

“I want to see the old Conor back,” Lobov says. “Then, everything will be sweet between us.”

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County police are investigating a shooting at a gas station.

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. along Stone Mill Way near Tucker.

NewsChopper 2 flew over the scene during Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m. and showed several police cars at the gas station, and had the gas pumps roped off by police tape.

We have a reporter and photographer headed to the scene for live updates RIGHT NOW on Channel 2 Action News.

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Being an actor gives you opportunities that few others get, like working alongside artists that you truly admire.

While some people pay hundreds to see their favourite celebrity in the flesh, when you’re famous yourself, you might find yourself sharing a screen with them, suddenly spending every day together to bring a project to life.

• WHERE: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
• WHEN: 7:30 pm and (nfl+*)

COMMANDERS: The Commanders and Terry McLaurin have encountered a bump in the road, with the Pro Bowl wide receiver requesting a trade out of Washington as he seeks a contract extension. The team added more depth at the position when it acquired Deebo Samuel. With McLaurin’s contract talks stalled in Washington, the Commanders could rely on Noah Brown, Michael Gallup, K.J. Osborn, Luke McCaffrey and fourth-round pick Jaylin Lane. Head coach Dan Quinn and Co. will get an opportunity to see who could step in if needed. Gallup, among the group, owns the experience and has familiarity with Quinn from their time together in Dallas. Osborn is also a veteran who has filled in nicely when called upon in previous seasons.

PATRIOTS: New England hopes quarterback Drake Maye can take his production to another level in Year 2. In order to help out Maye, the new regime needs to get a much better effort from the ground game. In 2024, Rhamondre Stevenson seriously struggled to protect the ball with seven fumbles (three lost). This week, head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters Stevenson, along with other returning players, have a “fresh, clean slate,” but everyone has to be better in 2025. The Patriots also kept Antonio Gibson and drafted TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson, a dynamic player for Ohio State, brings plenty of intrigue to Foxborough. Despite Henderson being listed No. 3 on the unofficial team depth chart, a strong preseason could see him leap ahead of Gibson — if not Stevenson, too — before Week 1.

— Christian Gonzales