"Either Shaquille O'Neal is a brilliant marketer, or his rivalry with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard continues to simmer.

O'Neal insists he bears no ill will toward Howard, despite circumstantial evidence that indicates otherwise. At his retirement press conference, some of O'Neal's employees wore T-shirts with the following slogan on the front: "The Real Superman Has 4 Rings."

And, during his opening remarks, O'Neal added a not-so-subtle dig at Howard when he said, "In light of today I am retiring all of my nicknames: The Big Aristotle, Shaq-Fu, The Big Shamrock, The Big Cactus, The Diesel and finally, the one and only, original, never to be duplicated or replicated, Superman."

O'Neal says all of the barbs are just for show.

"It's all marketing," O'Neal told reporters after the press conference ended.

"It's all marketing. I help you guys out. You guys help me out. A lot of stuff I say is bull—-, and you all know that, but you guys write it. The fans read it, and I come to the arena and get booed. It's the system. It's all part of the game.

Just like pro wrestling?

"It's exactly like wrestling, but a lot of times I don't tell the other half what I'm doing because they don't understand it. So I may go at Dwight or go at other players, but it's nothing personal. Dwight's mom and my mom are great friends, so, honestly, I can't go at him like that even if I wanted to."

Indeed, O'Neal did have some compliments for Howard, even referring to the Magic superstar as "Mr. Howard" on an ESPN radio show."