Tatum watched Kobe's critique of him '25 times'
Boston Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum has already demonstrated his maturity this the postseason, and he's happy to take pointers from Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on improving his game further.
On a recent episode of Bryant's ESPN show "Detail," the future Hall of Famer nitpicked plays where Tatum could improve. The 20-year-old was excited to take advice from someone he admired as a child.
"That was really cool for me," Tatum said Saturday, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "Growing up, (Bryant) was my favorite player. That was really a special moment for me.
"I've probably watched it like 25 times already. It's very helpful information that I can take with me."
Tatum's needed to grow up quickly in the NBA. In his first regular-season game, the Duke product was forced to go head-to-head with LeBron James after forward Gordon Hayward dislocated his ankle five minutes into the contest.
"Opening up your career, first game of the season and playing against LeBron - everything that happened with the trade, there was a lot of hype and attention around it," said Tatum. "Unfortunately, we lost Gordon that night, and it just changed our season from that night on.
"I think we're a lot tougher, we're a lot more together. Obviously we've played 90-something games. That was the first game, so we were just still trying to figure each other out."
Tatum started all 80 games he appeared in during the regular season, finishing eighth in 3-point percentage (43.4) and averaging 13.9 points and five boards. He's been even better in the postseason, averaging 18.1 points in 14 games.
The Celtics are up 2-0 over James' Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals as the series heads to Ohio.