The de-Mamba-ing of Jayson Tatum

[Somebody]

I like that Tatum is looking to the best players in the league to see where he should improve. Those are the guys he should be comparing himself to. If this team is going to be successful this year, I think it will happen on Tatum's back.

The best things Tatum could have taken from Kobe are his will and work ethic.  Tatum seemed to get worse in those areas last year.  It seems like Drew Hanlen has a better grasp of what Tatum needs to do to be successful than Kobe does.  Kobe was a great but that doesn’t mean he has any clue about the modern NBA and the fact that efficiency and shot selection matter nowadays.

How about Kobe’s post game and know-how of drawing fouls? How about attacking the defense? I think it’s pretty safe to say, Tatum has never faced the double teams Kobe has faced and yet he routinely acted like he did given his poor shot selection. He emulated Kobe’s end of shot clock shenanigans - getting the ball, looking at the clock, holding it with a couple of size up dribbles, and then taking a tough fade-away - regardless of clock situation.

I'd rather Tatum learn from Jordan-MJ created easy looks with his incredible skill, while Kobe used his to generate tough makes.