ESPN First Take, Greatest Moment in Sports

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless discuss their views on the single greatest performance in sports history. Do I get a vote? Last years Finals was the funniest, in any event. Not even a mention!

[@illmatic87]

I remember watching this segment live. First take was at its peak here.

[@keyodi]

Stephen A changing his opinion live on air shows he’s a straight up dude

[@telmolicious]

Every thing Lord Bendtner does.

[@declaninc]

Very surprised to see this here

[@Don-hi8oe]

Ali beating foreman was greatest thing ever

[@Don-hi8oe]

Any moment of Muhammad Ali is the greatest thing ever.

[@sidboy332]

Thou R d Greatest...Champ All knee shud bend...all neck shud bow...all tongue shud confess....Thou r n will remain d Greatest forever....Rest in Paradise # Greatest forever ALI

[@MattJones1418]

Lol... Not tigers first professional tournament. First professional major. Big difference.

[@aurelie-annegilly8018]

greatest single sporting performance has got to be Usain Bolt's 2008 Beijing olympics win. He jogged across the line against the best in the world and still broke the world record. He didn't even try all of the way. And he obliterated the best in the world. No one can beat that.

[@prodigiii712]

Diego Maradona in 1986 World Cup vs England.

[@ccbgaming6994]

I’m a bolt fan and that was a once in a lifetime performance, but I wouldn’t put that at the best

[@manmatt29]

Well he was a 2-time NBA champion, 2 time Finals MVP, and 1 MVP. Also he has the most blocks in NBA history. No disrespect to Wilt but the talent level in his time can't compare to the people Hakeem had to play against.

[@aktsarabdikar2647]

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier 1 is the greatest moment in sport history

[@Mr7Cavalier7]

Usain bolt jogged for 9.69 2008

[@ldm2023]

Greatest performance in sports was decided by ESPN a few years ago to be Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes in 1973 by 31 lengths. ... 50 years later and he still holds the records for all three races, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

[@kevioooon]

and during the 4xdash he runed 100m in 8,70s!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats just crazy

[@BillClay88]

Its def up there..whether u say golf a sport or Not, all golfers are not athletes, but tiger is an never overlook the mental toughness as well as physical skill to play golf, toughest sport I've ever played and tiger was a killer, no doubt, hope he can get it back, but not looking good

[@salvatoresultana4058]

The greatest performance in a single game was 100% Reggie Jackson in World Series Game 6 in 1977 against the Dodgers. Saw three pitches, and they all went over the wall.

[@garyhastad54]

Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont, No doubt, There is Nothing in History better than this. NOTHING.

[@kevioooon]

usain bolt!! 9:58. no one has run under 9:70 except usain bolt.

[@hellohell77]

I always thought ali knocking foreman out was the greatest moment in north American if not world sports history. But as far as most difficult, tiger's 97 masters is up there. Not only his 1st major as a pro but at only 21. However I don't know if that's as big as Jesse Owens at the '36 Olympics. It's hard to say. Uruguay winning the 1950 world cup also ranks up there too.

[@oneshotman45]

I would say Jesse Owen's win was less great but more important. Like Louis Knocking out Schmeling in one round in 1938.

[@alvarulanda]

@Deenijel yes I agree.

[@vivilakers]

for ME Kobe's 81. I thought it was even unappreciated at the time that a guy scored 81 POINTS in todays game where he's not the biggest, he's not the fastest but he had the most skill. Pure skill showed in that game. You can say that he was againts bad defense but seriously this guy also scored more points THAN AN ENTIRE TEAM againts Dallas in the 3rd quarter just a few games before.

[@sebastianchavez602]

Kobe beating the Celtics with a broken finger in the right ha de should also be there.

[@lukec6108]

Men's hockey. Usa vs Russia 1980 Olympics

[@PrimeAliProductions]

Historically nothing compares to the Rumble in the Jungle.

[@gustavotitus1985]

Primealivstyson thriller in manila was better

[@MrTheBeastBoss]

my greatest centers ever 1. Kereem (leading scorer and many rings) 2. Olajuwon (best post moves ever and amazing defender) 3. Wilt (cmon guys) 4. Bill Russell (i feel bad he is this low but 11 rings and maybe best defender) 5. Shaq (probably deserves to be higher, but hard to compare to these guys)

[@raoulrookwood1815]

Greatest sporting moment in American history surely not the world

[@edvirgiliom]

i think ali vs fraizer was the best moment ever in the history of the universe

[@SpaceSpiffin43]

This is classic

[@mraims2plez]

What about Dr. J when he starred in "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh"?!

[@foxnewsfanify]

You are dead on with that comment. The most dominant, not the greatest. But by far the most dominant in his prime. Semper Fi.

[@DrHypeBeast]

Gotta agree with skip. I mean golf was mainly white man sport. And I'm not saying that african american's didn't play, but it was highly populated with caucasian golfers. But for tiger to come in, young golfer, first masters, and an african american and asian, and won with a huge gap. I find that very impressive. The mental strength to go through that. Suck on that Rory M. (jk).

[@Teigeplug_]

yo it's been nine are you still on here

[@grantnelson4546]

Joe Louis vs. Max Schemling, Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, The Miracle On Ice. Tiger Woods winning the Masters is nowhere near as historically significant as those events.

[@laurentkelly8434]

Maradona winning Serie a with Napoli against an insanely well rounded Milan side and many other better teams on paper. It would be the equivalent of Suarez guiding Liverpool towards the premiership. And he did it twice too.

[@Kobs.A]

Suarez on a relegation team surely not

[@JamesLauderdale]

Skip Bayless convincing Stephen A. Smith to agree with him??? Good call!!!

[@2010eminemrecovery1]

You can't put wilt up there because it was a different game. He was about a 7 foot center and the tallest person that would of had to guard him was around my height (6 foot 6). Now and even back in the 80's and 90's, every team had at least 1 person that was at least 6 foot 10. Wilt would not stand out nearly as much, if at all if he played in a more modern era (last25 years or so)

[@drago1209]

Boy If wanted to pick the greatest moments in sport it had to be Mark McGuire breaking Roger Marris single season Home Run record along with Sammy Sosa.

[@supunmallamaarachchi9211]

I think Douglas beating Tyson was the most shocking unbelievable unpredicted moment in the history of sports. 42/1 underdog Douglas knoking out Iron Mike.. it was simply like a cheetah won against a mighty Lion.. impossible

[@iJvs11]

Skip always makes sense, chu talking about xD

[@sharkl11]

He was over double teamed. Raptors coach was teaching his team a lesson.

[@foxnewsfanify]

No better way to put a racist or perceived racist to bed and shut them up than by obliterating the field on your first try as a pro. Went into the lion's den and put up a Jordanesque performance. Still hard to believe it actually happened. I remember watching it; seriously it may have been the greatest. Semper Fi.

[@DCProductions77]

Hakeem and a young Shaq is enough, especially david robinson. Seriously speaking.

[@shannonm9979]

Tyson biting Holyfield ear was a great moment also

[@vikings7ify]

true

[@sebastianchavez602]

Kobe beating the Celtics with a broken finger in the right ha de should also be there.

[@thesquidishere]

Kareem was unstopable... but wilt was one of if the most powerful force in basketball history right up there with shaq.

[@goreclash27]

Nobody is denying that. Wilt is by far the most dominating force of their era ever. However, dominance dosent necessarily equate to skill. Yea he was unstoppable, but remember it was the 60s, so take that with a grain of salt. Every generation of athletes is more physically gifted than the previous. I still believe Wilt would be an all star in todays NBA, but not averaging 40+ and 20+ rebounds a game.

[@ryanryan5112]

Lool just for get the number 1 sport then Yeahh!!

[@Climb_Mountains]

im saying Wilt dominated because he was bigger and stronger than most centers. Yes of course they are HoFs but thats because they were the first ones to play the game at a high level. You were saying how Wilt's era had better centers than the 80s and 90s which i disagree with. And if there was someone who is more athletic than Wilt and has good skills(not mediocre obviously) around the basket then yes, I believe that player is better.

[@amindagane44]

Hakeem Olajuwon is the most skilled center ever ;) when we talk about the all time greats,championships,mvps,stats,longletivity of one's career come in to play, Hakeem was one of the unlucky to play in jordans's era because jordan took away mvp's and championships from guys like Karl malone,charles barkley,john stockton,gary payton,clyde drexler etc. greatest center Kareem and Wilt,don't sleep on wilt,look at his career,his stats,who he played,but Hakeem most skilled,no doubt =)

[@iRuckiz]

domination is domination, it wasn't wilts fault that he was taller than everybody else.

[@Deenijel]

Lol greatest moment in sport has to involve the greatest sport!!? Football(Soccer)!! Maradona in 86 in the greatest sport tournament in the sporting world the World Cup where he took the whole nation under his wings and singlehandedly won them the cup including scoring the greatest goal of all-time but also the most controversial of all-time! That's the greatest moment in sport history by far!!

[@rehansiddique8126]

Very true Muhammad Ali The Greatest

[@yomama69ist]

im sorry its hard to tell when someones being sarcastic when theyre typing it lol

[@funakiexpressV2]

Kareem is one of the most accomplished centers. Hakeem is the most skilled center.

[@sharkl11]

Best moment shouldn't have any controversy. Should be pure, not a fluke punch that is famed as whatever they called it....hand of god.

[@iRuckiz]

i never said or implied he was the best ever, but he is the most dominant player ever. no one has dominated their era like wilt did with his...and for anyone to say that he had an advantage in size over them, it wasn't just size, he was just an athletic freak, we are talking about a 7 footer who averaged 48.5 minutes a game...you can't be the most dominant without having an advantage in one way or another....like i said, no one has ever dominated their era like wilt.

[@drago1209]

True he did use steroids, but he never didn't talk about his us of steroid until 2010. At that time I never heard the word steroids or HGH until they made to public headline in mid 2000.

[@123kingdam]

@CollerKing37 I would like to see NFL players vs Rugby players with no pads wonder who would win probaly rugby players

[@CoolioXXX52]

No

[@ricodorean21]

@dojOdRiFTeR Wilt was 7'1" !!!! A world class athlete. Great volleyball player! Lean, built. You really think he couldnt COMPETE with 6'11" Dwight Howard?????????????????

[@Chilltown95]

Hakeem & Kareem are the best centers ever.

[@PackerBronco]

If you're going to use Tiger at Augusta because of the issue of discrimination, I think you would have to rank Jackie Robinson's debut in the Majors ahead of it.

[@johnvillella1087]

Jackie Didnt dominate like Tiger did though, that has to be considered.

[@rizzomaster]

The only reason they are considered the best is because right now they are the only true centers in the league the last true one being Shaq, but compared to Wilt and Russell I will agree that they would get destroyed humiliated and just broken. :P

[@rizzomaster]

A tougher era? Wilt was playing double the minutes than Shaq constantly! No one has put up more records then Wilt. Yes this is a more athletic era, but it was tougher back then

[@thegamefox1]

tiger wood...are u fucking kidding me

[@KareemAbduljaCobb]

Of course SAS would. It was about race.

[@alvarulanda]

@Deenijel

[@simes1119]

He was brilliant at his sport and of course won what he did was political and has nothing to do with the the greatest sporting moment. You could argue any gold medal is the same worth as jesse's medals, sporting moment is based on sport and individual or team winning through skill, determination and guts not by doing a political act that was altoughth meant something could have got him killed, there is a difference in being an absolute champ and creating political tension.

[@ehssen1]

ho about joe louis vs max schmelling 1938 nazi vs american end of whole of us rooting for joe and the social implications it had were phenomenal making him a her

[@hanj31]

skip making sense here for once!

[@lilchappa9209]

If Stephen a didn’t say anything you would be like “what is skip talking about golf isn’t a sport there’s no athleticism involved, get out of here skip” smh it’s true.

[@DrHypeBeast]

i can see that argument existing today. you dont see african americans in golf today and still a predominately caucasian played game. you have to consider the fact that tiger played in a game where it was considered a white man game to play in a tournament at that young of an age and to dominate is crazy. I mean other sports have a diverse group of nationalities but when looking at the african american community, golf is something African Americans play little part in.

[@tomsurber2293]

The greatest moment in sports for me by a single athlete? Have you ever heard of the term "Beamonesque"?

[@curiouslymavismade]

Ali is the greatest. Period.

[@nicholasgordon3130]

Tiger woods 🐐

[@ameronsahota9913]

kareem better cause better post game free throws and wilt played when there was no shotclock no 3 in the key

[@goreclash27]

Its not our fault either. Wilt was the outcome of a physical outlier, Wilt, dominating much smaller and weaker competition in an era of much less athletic basketball players. Don't get me wrong, Wilt is still an incredible player, but not nearly the best ever.

[@yomama69ist]

what about wilt or bill russell

[@ryanryan5112]

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

[@mattsvrguy]

Wilt

[@Lbzfinest89]

best moment 1986 world series mets vs boston the comeback the mets win

[@jfadsojfask]

These are the best moments in American sports, not world sports. We all know football (real football not american football) has the greatest moments ever.

[@BlackStarKeepShining]

LOLOLOLOL. Enough said.

[@jiukalita]

2017 Browns greatest in history idc what y'all think

[@heyymannnnnnn]

hahah stephen a smith always preaching black power

[@thegunner4lyfe]

usain bolt 9.52 second s in the hundred meter greatest moment in histroy

[@josexavier1997]

Shaq was good too.

[@Climb_Mountains]

Wilt dominated in an era when Big men weren't that big or athletic. Just saying.

[@prodigiii712]

Tiger doesn't claim to be black.

[@123kingdam]

So the question is basically the greatest American performance of all time for sports how about other major sports lik soccer

[@PerezSportsOfficial]

nah man lionel messi coming off the bench against Panama in the 2016 copa America, earning a hat-trick in less than 20 minutes to lock the game up. it shows his dominance just by stepping onto the pitch

[@telmolicious]

Dude...... The fuck....

[@LBJ39348]

lmao what? That wasn't even Messi's best performance ever, how can it be the best performance in sports ever

[@abhivideos101]

wilt Chamberlain

[@armin38822]

1 on 1 . hakeem vs any center in the history of the nba ...my money is on the dream. maybe the big fundemental could take him out.

[@GettinDowntoBismuth]

if you believe shaq is the greatest center of all time, you've haven't watched enough basketball

[@jeppep95]

id say that Wilt and Kareem are better than Hakeem

[@davidlee5352]

what about SHAQ

[@lutherblissett7873]

MJ´s 98 final shot

[@fiahutt]

Greatest sing sporting performance has to be Beijing 2008 olympics swimming men 4x100m freestyle relay

[@mattsvrguy]

why is kareem better than wilt?

[@Kingjd87]

Hakeem was great, but not the greatest ever. I think Kareem is the best center ever, he was unstoppable in his prime. As good as The Dream was, he was never unstoppable...

[@DripVersace]

he was using steroids i dont agree

[@esiasssss]

and the greatest moment is michael jordan´s last dance

[@DCProductions77]

jesse owens could have topped this list twice. Personally i don't think that (nazzi one)was his greatest performance. 4 gold medals in one NCAA invent. And all those events only within 45 minutes of each other. 3 world records.

[@MrSeanMDolan]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no