It must be surreal for Devin Booker.

The youngest player in the league last season probably didn't start watching basketball until Kobe Bryant was well into his NBA career. Now the Black Mamba is praising what Booker is doing with the Phoenix Suns.

Booker got to play against Kobe during his final season back in March. He'll never forget that experience.

Via NBA.com:

“He inspired me. He changed the game of basketball. Changed the city of Los Angeles,” Booker said. “Just incredible. The way he went out and got love on every road trip he went on. If you wouldn't want to go out like that, I don't know why you're playing the game.

“So that always sticks in my head while I'm playing. When I'm done, I want to be remembered as someone like Kobe Bryant.”

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Kobe went out of his way to sing praises of the young two-guard.

“The Black Mamba” didn’t just praise Booker behind closed doors. To the media, Bryant also voiced how impressed he was with the young Suns guard.

“I think he's fantastic,” Bryant said at the time. “I think he has the right attitude. He has the right competitive spirit. I think his footwork is extremely sound. His fundamentals are extremely sound.

“Now it's just about him figuring out exactly what his game is and then he can go to that every single night and then make counters off of it. But he has the skills.”

Booker is entering his second season in the league and looking to build off a very solid rookie campaign. He started 51 of the 76 games posting averages of 13.8 points, 2.6 assists and 34.3 percent 3-point shooting.

The Suns have definitely found their shooting guard for the future and it much be a nice bonus that he is officially “Mamba approved”.