Kobe Bryant was one of the players that Boston Celtics youngster Jayson Tatum idolised growing up and he was honoured when the Lakers legend critiqued his game during the playoffs.During his special ESPN piece 'Detail', Bryant analysed Tatum in one of the episodes and the Celtics man revealed that he watched it at least 25 times.After watching Kobe give him advice on how to improve his game, the 20-year-old decided to reach out to the five-time champion to pick his brain in person.

Learning from Kobe

The Duke product got his wish this summer as he spent time working out with the Black Mamba.

He described it as a "surreal" experience in an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

"That was a dream come true," Tatum said. "Him always being my favourite player, and getting an opportunity to chat with him and just get in the gym with him, it was a surreal moment.

"Yeah it was crazy, just being in that moment and being in the same gym with him and him teaching me things. I really couldn’t believe it."

The small forward explained that they discussed both the mental and physical aspect of the game.

"Really just getting into his mindset, how he thought as a player and as a young player, just trying to get better and better each year in the league," Tatum said.

"(We talked about) what he did to make those things happen and how he was so successful.

"... We just talked about those minor few (footwork) things while we were working out.

"We did a lot of post moves and things like that, so I had a pretty good feel for everything he showed me, just maybe a few changes here and there."

Tatum enjoyed a remarkable rookie campaign as he played a major role in helping the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

After putting up 13.9 points in the regular season, he upped that to 18.5 points in the playoffs as he led Boston in scoring.

He showed that he has a bit of the 'Mamba Mentality' in him as he surpassed Bryant as the youngest NBA player to ever score 20-plus points in four straight postseason games at the age of 20 years and 61 days.

Last year's number three pick has an extremely bright future ahead of him and could potentially earn his first All-Star nod if he takes his game to another level next year.

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