Alex Ovechkin had an eventful night at Capital One Arena on Friday night, sitting courtside for an NBA game between the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ovechkin met a Capitals-jersey-wearing Trae Young, but also had another notable interaction with one of his GOAT peers.
LeBron James, whom Ovechkin first met in 2009, played in what could be his final game in DC and made sure to dap up The Great 8 during the Lakers’ 142-111 blowout victory.
Monumental Sports Network reporter Ethan Cadeaux caught the brief interaction between two of the greatest athletes of all time.
Ovechkin and James then met up postgame, where they exchanged autographed jerseys. Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas, who was also at the game, made sure to get LeBron’s signature on a jersey, too.
“Thank you, bro,” Ovechkin said.
“Yessir, brother,” James replied.
A meek Protas then softly interjected, “Excuse me, would you mind signing?”
“Of course, of course,” James said.
Ovechkin, with his sons Sergei and Ilya, then posed with James for a photo.
Ovechkin has long been a huge basketball fan, likely spurred on by his mother, Tatyana Ovechkina, a two-time Olympic gold medalist basketball player for the Soviet Union. He has also long said that Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, a one-time Wizard, is his favorite all-time athlete.
Jordan, along with James, was one of the many athletes who filmed congratulatory videos for Ovechkin when the Russian winger passed Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s goal-scoring lead last year.
During the game, Ovechkin interacted with another basketball legend, Lakers superstar Luka Doncic. The Slovenian guard almost fell into Ovechkin’s lap as he tried to draw a foul on Wizards players Kyshawn George and Jamir Watkins.
“This would be a very interesting hockey matchup,” Monumental’s Chris Miller observed. “Ovi against Luka. I got Ovi all day, every day.”
Doncic, perhaps due to being touched by greatness, dominated the Wizards in LA’s win. He had a triple-double by halftime and finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, and three steals.
