Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard responded to Shaquille O’Neal’s rap song with one of his own that suggests the Hall of Fame center rode on the coattails of his teammates throughout his career.
The feud began last week when Lillard said on “The Joe Budden podcast” that he believes himself to be a better rapper than Shaq, who released a track last Wednesday that said Lillard was not among the elite of NBA guards. And on Tuesday, Lillard answered by releasing “Reign Reign Go Away” online.
O’Neal won four NBA titles in his career — three with the Los Angeles Lakers while playing alongside Kobe Bryant and one with the Miami Heat while a teammate of Dwyane Wade.
Or as Lillard put it in the song he posted Tuesday:
“We both could be working at Kinkos and Kobe won you them rings, though” and “Even in Miami, won that on the strength of Flash.”
Lillard also touted his $250 million super max contract and said he “can’t recall you getting that when I was cruising on a 10-speed.”
.@Dame_Lillard was surgical in his @SHAQ diss track “Reign Reign Go Away” 🤭 pic.twitter.com/cG0EgVoM3b
— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2019
O’Neal posted his song on Instagram on Monday, rapping: “Take your time to respond, there is no hurry / You’ll never be Westbrook, never be Steph Curry” and “What’s in your wallet, American Express or Visa? / Talking like you’re Bron, you ain’t even Trevor Ariza.”
Damian Lillard said he’s a better rapper than Shaq.
So Shaq responded with a diss track 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ZaTNDmt44P
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 1, 2019
O’Neal’s debut album, “Shaq Diesel,” went platinum in 1993, though Lillard downplayed his success, saying on Budden’s podcast that, “People weren’t looking at it like it’s a real rapper. It was like, ‘that’s Shaq rapping.'”
This summer, Lillard also exchanged freestyle raps with Sacramento Kings big man Marvin Bagley III on an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, with Budden declaring Lillard the winner.