Rapper and Academy Award winner Juicy J knew nothing about the sport of hockey. That was until Alex Ovechkin and Jakob Chychrun’s pregame tunnel ritual of shimmying to Bandz A Make Her Dance brought about a resurgence in the popularity of the 2012 hip hop track. “I’m so surprised–TikTok went crazy. People started calling me, ‘Hey man, there’s a hockey team, Capitals, they love your music,” said Juicy J ahead of the Capitals vs Blue Jackets game on April 13—his first ever hockey game. While chatting with the Capitals’ reporter, he could not remember the name of the “star of the team”, but he remembered being told that he is the “Michael Jordan of hockey.” 

He was referring to Ovechkin, of course.

Despite belonging to two different sports, comparisons between the two have been floating for quite some time now, and not without their merits. The Brooklyn native, who won his 6 NBA titles in two iconic three-peats, has long been hailed as the undisputed G.O.A.T. of basketball. And he did not call it quits until he was 40.

Meanwhile, Ovechkin, who is 39 himself, just claimed the summit that is the NHL‘s all-time goal-scoring record for himself, thanks to his successful chase of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. What’s more? He did it in exactly as many games as the Canadian legend played in his entire career. So it certainly wouldn’t be blasphemy to give the Russian the stature of the hockey G.O.A.T. either. Considering all this, you’d think that the two might have crossed paths often, as G.O.A.T.s often do. Yet, that has not been the case.

On a recent episode of the Pat McAfee Show, Alex Ovechkin admitted that he has never met Michael Jordan, who is one of his sporting idols! “I never had a chance to meet Michael Jordan but uh it’s one of my dreams and uh I have his signed jersey, but yeah. It’s one of my dreams to meet the greatest player to play basketball.” Ovi said.

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Shocker. And Ovi started playing in 2005 while Jordan only retired in 2003, so their careers weren’t even that far apart for them not to have somehow crossed paths at a game or an event or even one of those infamous sports parties where everyone does jumping jacks between shots.

Well, Pat McAfee assured Ovechkin that a meetup is going to happen pretty soon. And when it does, he may want to bring his mother, Tatyana Ovechkina, who won two Olympic gold medals when she played basketball with the Soviet Union National Women’s Basketball team! Ovi’s love for Jordan may have something to do with his own mother’s legacy in Jordan’s sport, and she may have some questions to ask His Airness, and vice versa. Not just because of their mutual basketball connection but also for how nods to Jordan has punctuated her son’s career.

Alex Ovechkin seems to have long been manifesting a crossover

What makes the whole thing even more shocking is all the times Ovi has shouted out to MJ. When The Last Dance came out, Ovi called it “one of the best sports projects” adding, “This is a story, especially when you are an athlete, you understand what this person has achieved, and he begins to talk about his life, how everything went, how he moved after failures. Very cool.” Ovi graciously showed no signs of holding back his admiration for his long-time idol.

In another instance, Ovechkin was seen wearing a hoodie that said ‘Well, I’m not Michael Jordan’ on the back. The story is that one time someone hit the ball too high and Ovi shouted out the above phrase, an indication that MJ is always somewhere on his mind, and he isn’t afraid to admit his limits when it comes to reaching those literal heights. Then there was the subtle MJ nod when Ovi extended his contract with the Capitals, he just simply said “I’m back” which is what Michael Jordan famously said when he came out of retirement in 1995. Now if Ovi isn’t a super fan, I don’t know who is! How do we hook these two heroes up?

via Imago

Well, it doesn’t look like that fated day is too far away. In a recent tribute to Ovi, organised by the NHL, sporting greats and legends from other fields like Michael Phelps, Mark Messier, Simone Biles, Snoop Dogg, and yes, even Michael Jordan, congratulated him on reaching his 895th career goal, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s. In the video, Jordan is seated behind a table where he says, addressing Ovi on a first-name basis, “Hi Alex, Congratulations, quite a record to break.” 

So, the greats are clearly aware of each other and each other’s greatness. So, who knows, maybe Michael and Alex will be sitting down for coffee soon and sharing quips about the varying paths that brought them to this point!