Though Jayson Tatum is the franchise guy of the Boston Celtics now, there was a time when he hated the team so much because he was a big Los Angeles Lakers fan. And to top it off, he didn't even know where Boston was on the map.

Tatum sat down with ex-NBA player Quentin Richardson where they discussed, among other things, Tatum's feeling towards the Celtics growing up. Tatum admitted that Kobe Bryant was his childhood idol and wanted to play for the Lakers. In effect, he hated the Celtics — the Purple and Gold's arch rivals.

“I didn't like the Celtics at all growing up. I wanted to play for the Lakers. Honestly, I didn't know where Boston was at. I knew it was on the East coast. But I'd never been there, I'd never thought about going there.

And when I was drafted, it's kind of crazy. I used to hate the Celtics.”

Peep the full interview below where they talk more about Tatum's beginnings.

As Tatum noted, things turned out pretty well between him and the Celtics. The third overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, much was expected from the Duke product. He delivered right from the get-go, putting on a strong performance in his first playoff campaign.

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Note that the Celtics entered the playoffs without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. With the help of Tatum, they went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the offseason, the Celtics secured Jayson Tatum with a rookie max extension of five years, worth $195 million. Safe to say that Tatum now loves the Celtics and would do anything for the franchise.