Jayson Tatum is on the road to NBA stardom after enjoying a remarkable rookie season with the Boston Celtics. The 20-year-old took the league by storm last year and it's scary to think just how much better he can become. After an impressive regular season, he took his game to another level in the playoffs as he led the Celtics in scoring and played a major role in helping them reach the Eastern Conference Finals. He took on extra responsibility and thrived following injuries to All-Star duo Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. Tatum put up 18.5 points per game in the postseason and wasn't fazed by being on the league's biggest stage. 

Learning from the best

In a bid to continue improving his game, the small forward turned to NBA legend Kobe Bryant this summer. 

The fact that a Celtics player spent time working with a Los Angeles Lakers great may not have gone down well with some fans in Boston but it'll be hard to find anybody better than Bryant for the youngster to learn from.

The Duke product was a huge fan of the Black Mamba growing up and was keen to spend time in his presence and soak up as much knowledge as possible.

In an interview with ESPN's Chris Forsberg, he shared what he got out of his work out with Kobe. 

"Maybe a few things he showed me, post moves," he said. "But just interacting with him and being able to talk and ask him questions and trying to get into his mind and understand how he thought the game, what he did to be successful."

Bryant took a keen interest in Tatum's game during the playoffs as he was one of the players he focused on for his ESPN piece, 'Detail'.

The small forward admitted he watched it more than 20 times and couldn't believe that the five-time champion took time to critique his game. 

Physicality

As well as working on his offensive game, last year's number three overall pick has been spending much of his time in the weight room as he's focused on getting stronger during this offseason.

"That's probably been the biggest focus," he said. "I'm still young so it's hard to really just throw on a bunch of extra pounds.

"But I've definitely gotten a lot stronger. ... I just wanted to get my body right and keep getting stronger."

This will all be music to the ears of the Celtics as Tatum's contributions could be key in their quest to win their first championship since 2008. 

CLICK HERE to listen to Episode Two of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring New York Times senior writer Marc Stein. Subscribe for all future episodes.