Charles Barkley makes feelings clear after Alex Ovechkin shatters NHL goal record: "That was amazing"

NBA legend Charles Barkley praised Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin's historic feat of becoming the NHL's all-time career scoring leader, surpassing NHL legend Wayne Gretzky.

Barkley delivered his comments during CBS Sports' halftime show of the national championship game between the Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars.

"I had a rough day yesterday, I had two TVs going," Barkley said. "I had hockey game on TNT and I had the (women's) basketball game going on. ... Shout out to Ovechkin, too, man. Shout out to Ovechkin. That was amazing."

NHL writer Tom Gulitti shared Barkley's comments on X, while a fan posted a video of Barkley during the halftime show.

As Barkley noted, Ovechkin's historic night coincided with the UConn Huskies defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks for the NCAA championship.

The 39-year-old Ovechkin recorded his 895th career goal in Sunday's 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders. "The Great 8" is regarded as among the greatest hockey players of all time, as he holds several other NHL records.

Meanwhile, UConn returned to the top of women's college basketball behind top prospects Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong. Geno Auriemma and the Huskies won their record 12th national championship.

Barkley became a sports analyst following his 16-year NBA career. He was inducted twice into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 for his career and in 2010 as part of the 1992 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, also known as the "dream team."

Alex Ovechkin's feat discussions turn into LeBron James' GOAT debate

On Monday's episode of "First Take," discussions about Alex Ovechkin's historic NHL feat turned into a GOAT debate in the NBA. Former hockey star P.K. Subban shared his thoughts with Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, saying Ovechkin is more durable than LA Lakers star LeBron James.

Subban's back-and-forth with the ESPN analysts became a heated GOAT debate as he said James is behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

"If we want to talk about greatness in basketball that's a whole different conversation," Subban said. "LeBron's great, but he ain't Kobe, he ain't Jordan for me. Yeah, I did, I put Kobe ahead of him."

Smith didn't directly agree with Subban's take that Alex Ovechkin is more durable than James. Meanwhile, Sharpe defended the four-time NBA MVP, citing his eight consecutive finals appearances between 2011 and 2018.

Through the years, several GOAT debates have revolved around Jordan, Bryant and James.