With the sports world effectively being shut down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, athletes and fans have had to find other ways of entertainment. One thing that the whole sports world can agree on is that ESPN’s docuseries on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls called “The Last Dance” has been an excellent source of entertainment during this time.
Los Angeles Rams players have been vocal about the docuseries since it started airing, and that included second-year linebacker Travin Howard.
A big topic of discussion has been who is the greatest basketball player of all time, with Jordan often being compared to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
For the 24-year-oldHoward, watching the docuseries gave him some valuable insight as to why many consider Jordan the greatest to ever play, but he still thinks differently, via Sarina Morales of TheRams.com:
“Watching the documentary was much needed. Getting to actually see what the generation before me saw. Seeing the hard work, skill and his attitude, I can see why people crown him the GOAT! That being said, LeBron is still the GOAT. I don’t care.
Howard’s opinion seems to be common amongst people his age who didn’t get the opportunity to watch Jordan win six championships with the Bulls live.
While he may have just been showing love to a fellow L.A. athlete, it is hard to disagree with Howard considering James’ play before the NBA shut down their season. James was averaging 25.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and a league-leading 10.6 assists per game while leading the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference.
Howard, on the other hand, still has a ways to go before he can amass his own star power. In his rookie season, he only played in 9% of defensive snaps but saw 69% of all snaps with the special teams. In just that small amount of time with the defense, he was able to deflect three passes, signaling that he could have the makings of a starting-caliber defender in the new era of the NFL that is focused so much on passing.
With Cory Littleton moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, there could be more playing time on the horizon for Howard. Hopefully, he can put in the work that James has throughout his career and help the Rams have a successful 2020 season.
