I May Despise Kobe Bryant But Man Am I A Sucker For A Good Mashup

Like many other Celtics fans, when we first heard about our beloved Jayson Tatum spending time this summer working out with Kobe, I was conflicted. Part of me was nervous that Kobe was actually reaching out so he could secretly ruin Tatum since he’s Lakers royalty after they passed on Tatum to take Lonzo. Another part of me was excited because Kobe doesn’t exactly do this with everyone, so he must see what we all see in that Tatum has the potential to be really, really, really good. Then, earlier this summer, Tatum’s close personal friend and trainer Drew Hanlen (ever heard of him?) put out this mashup and it made me feel things I wasn’t exactly comfortable with

I mean that shit STILL gives me chills. I’ll say it again, it doesn’t matter what it is, you give me a good NBA mashup like this and I have no choice but to love it. It’s why I love the internet so much because it gives us stuff like this. Well now that the season has started and Tatum has sneaky struggled offensively to some extent, it’s fun to joke on Twitter how Kobe ruined him. We don’t mean it, we’re just in denial when he struggles shooting the ball, that’s all. But here’s the thing, the internet has given us another Kobe/Tatum mashup from so far this season, and I can’t lie. I love this one too. It comes from Celtics Twitter hero @Timi_093 who if you don’t know by now and you root for this team what the hell are you doing? We should all be thanking the Basketball Gods Tomasz exists because his work is unmatched. See for yourself

I mean….that’s Kobe. Try and tell me that isn’t come identical shit right there. You can’t. Does this mean Tatum will end up with the same on the court basketball career as Kobe? Of course not. But it does mean he has essentially the same offensive arsenal at his disposal. I’d say it’s pretty cool to be able to do the exact same shit a guy who was a career 25 ppg scorer and one that averaged as high as 35 a game could do. We already know Tatum has ice in his veins when the pressure is on in the fourth quarter, and if he’s going to continue to be able to produce Kobe-like moves after just one summer working out with him, the sky’s the limit. He was even asked about this earlier in the year, and he wouldn’t give anything up

Well the secret may be out. We have video evidence of how Kobe has helped Tatum’s game, and early results are that it’s pretty awesome.

Seeing as how Tatum is evidently a quick learner, I thought about who I want him to work with next summer so his Year 3 leap can be even bigger than we imagine. Here’s my top 5

1. Ray Allen

I want Tatum to learn how to move off the ball and off screens like Ray. He’s not bad at it or anything like that, I just want him to become a robot like Ray was

2. Tracy McGrady

We know Jaylen has his number as they had their own session this summer, I want them to include Tatum next year so he can add even more ridiculous offensive moves to his arsenal

3. Hakeem

Seeing as how Tatum is basically 6’10 and plays PF, I want him to develop his own version of The Dream Shake. When we see Tatum go into the post, it’s usually to pull off that little fadeaway. While you can’t guard that, I think the next level is Tatum developing some sort of post game (once he’s stronger obviously).

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4. Scottie Pippen

Given his length, I want Tatum to soak up every single thing he can on the defensive end from one of the best to ever do it. What made Pippen so nasty was that he could guard essentially every position. We see Tatum fill that similar role on the Celts based on how Brad plays, so I want him to put in work on both ends, not just offense.

5. George Gervin

Maybe it’s just me, but I do see some Iceman in Tatum’s game. Anyone who knows NBA history knows Gervin was one of the best scorers the league has ever seen, and I want Tatum to master that finger roll. For a guy that sometimes struggles finishing around the rim, I feel like Gervin could help him find creative ways to score in that area that best utilizes his length.

So look, did it initially bother me that Tatum and Kobe were sharing basketball secrets this summer? Sure. But now that we’ve seen it in action and actually translate to games almost immediately, I’m OK with it. Plus it probably makes any Lakers fan that just read this blog a little angry, which I think we can all get behind.