‘First Take’ Honors Alex Ovechkin by Debating Whether He’s Better Than LeBron James

Which GOAT is GOAT-est? 'First Take' investigates. Loudly.

Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe yell about LeBron James during hockey segment. / @FirstTak

Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal scoring record on Sunday. It was such an incredible accomplishment that ESPN analyst P.K. Subban was invited on First Take to talk about hockey. Of course, it quickly turned into a debate about whether Ovechkin or LeBron James was the superior G.O.A.T.

With a "G.O.A.T. VOTE" graphic on top and a chyron reading, "MORE IMPRESSIVE RECORD: OVECHKIN OR LeBRON?" you can feel pretty certain the conversation did not get there organically.

In the clip below posted by First Take's official X account, the conversation picked up as Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe yell about LeBron's durability while Subban, in studio next to Molly Qerim, insists that Ovechkin has been more durable.

.@PKSubban1 believes Alex Ovechkin has been more "durable" than LeBron James in his career 👀@stephenasmith and @ShannonSharpe aren't having it 😅 pic.twitter.com/D8weDReVfD

— First Take (@FirstTake) April 7, 2025

The segment hit its true crescendo when Subban brought up Kobe Bryant and everyone really started yelling over each other.

It's hard to imagine a more sincere celebration of Ovechkin's accomplishment by First Take than by shoehorning him into a heated debate about Michael Jordan and LeBron James. After Stephen A. Smith retired the debate a whole month ago you know it really means something for First Take to unretire it.

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