Celtics news: Jayson Tatum says Kobe Bryant critique was special

Boston Celtics talent Jayson Tatum was recently on the wrong end of a Kobe Bryant critique, but he isn't going to be saddened by it.

Boston Celtics talent Jayson Tatum was recently on the wrong end of a Kobe Bryant critique, but he isn't going to be saddened by it. In fact, he enjoys what Jelly Bean Jr. had to say.

Over at ESPN, Kobe Bryant has been doing these videos in which he explains what is happening during and after games. One of his most recent videos discussed the play of Jayson Tatum, who Bryant believes is only starting to get great.

In turn, Tatum is actually giddy over the video, not only saying it is cool to hear an all-time great talk about him, but that he can use the information Bryant relayed to better his game.

“That was really cool for me. Growing up, [Bryant] was my favorite player. That was really a special moment for me,” Tatum said Saturday before Boston's morning shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena. The Celtics and Cavaliers meet in Game 3 on Saturday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“I've probably watched [the ‘Detail' video] like 25 times already. It's very helpful information that I can take with me.”

As for what awaits, the rookie still has his eyes on the Eastern Conference Finals, genuflecting on the season while also talking about the task at hand.

“Opening up your career, [the] 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.”