Shaquille O'Neal says there is no bad blood between him and Damian Lillard.
Over the last several weeks, the two have exchanged multiple diss tracks in an attempt to prove themselves as the best rapper within the NBA world. The "beef" began during Lillard's recent appearance on the Joe Budden Podcast, where he declared himself a better rapper than Shaq: "I've heard Shaq's stuff, I think people like him as 'Shaq.'... People wasn't looking at it like, 'That's a real rapper' It was Shaq rapping."
O'Neal clapped back by dropping the "Freestyle (Dame D.O.L.L.A. Diss)" track, which prompted Lillard to unleash not one, but two response records: "Reign, Reign, Go Away" and "I Rest My Case."
Though O'Neal refused retreat—eventually firing back with "Second Round Knockout"—the Hall of Famer insists the back-and-forth wasn't rooted in any real beef. He explained this during a recent interview with Rolling Stone at the NBA on TNT American Express Road Show.
"The thing that went on for me and him was just for fun. I think he’s really, really good and he’s very talented. We had fun," he said. "We all come from the same place. My thing is, if you say you’re better than me, I accept the challenge. If he says 'I look better than you,' then OK, I gotta hit the gym and work out; if he says 'My shoes are whiter than yours,' then I gotta go to the store and pick out a better pair. Other people take that stuff personally but I don’t. If you challenge me, I’ll step up to the challenge."
He went on to say that he would never fully return to music, as there's "not enough money in the rap game for me." Shaq also said he had about 100 songs in the vault, but has no plans to release them.
"I’ll do [music] for fun but I’m not getting back into it," he revealed. "I’ve been there, done that, went platinum twice with two terrible albums."
