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Gotta admit, there's a lot of similarities. Bryant also took a few years of continuous dedication and hard work before he evolved into a superstar. Both liked to step up in big moments at a young age.

Can Tatum develop into a player similar in impact to Kobe? Or is that setting the ceiling too high?

Since he plays for the Celtics, he could be called "The Green Mamba"

Tatum is a really great player. His handles can be a bit stinky but every part of his game has been impressive for a rookie and its such fun times to be a fan I can't believe it. I wonder what made him so good and wold love to ask about his perseverance some day!

Tatum is missing the playmaking and passing vision of Kobe. Also, does not have the athletic ability of Kobe. That is huge because it's the difference between a T-Mac/Kobe type player vs a Carmelo/Pierce type player. He can also improve his handles a bit but that goes for most rookies.
His defense was solid as a rookie in Brad's system but Kobe was all-NBA 1st team defense and I doubt Tatum gets to that level.

Tatum is one of my fav players in the league but unfortunately i have to say no. Kobe is too accompolished more dynamic and a tier and half better athlete than tatum will ever be..this doesnt knock tatum by any means bc tatum is fantastic in his own right. Future perrennial all nbaer.

No.

I thought he was supposed to be the next Paul Pierce?

I see shades of Danny Granger in his game.

tundraknight wrote:I thought he was supposed to be the next Paul Pierce?

If I was a boston fan, I'd absolutely take next Paul Pierce. Peak PP used to cook big time. I think Tatum will finish this season as the number 1 option especially after, wait for it...Bos moves Kyrie sometime between now and deadline. Maybe before camp.

Jayson Tatum GSW formula:

Tatum = (Durant+Klay)/2

He took a lot of moves from Kobe, but no, Tatum is going to be the next Tatum.

It's a pretty good comparison to be honest. He's not a guard so he's not going to have the passing as Bryant, that is true - but as a scorer, they're not that different.

To people saying he's like Paul Pierce and not Kobe Bryant, you guys do realize that Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant are not very different right? If Paul Pierce had elite athleticism, he would basically be exactly like Kobe Bryant. Perhaps the biggest difference is Pierce relied more on raw strength, which is something that Tatum isn't going to rely on (he's not going to charge through people like Pierce did).


Tatum is closer to Bryant than he is Carmelo Anthony in terms of style.

Nothing worse than the “Player X is going to be himself. Not the next anyone” take.. give it a break. But yea, he’s nowhere near the athlete Kobe was and it’s yet to be determined whether he’ll have that fire and rage in him that Kobe played with. Kobe was out for blood.

I wanna see the next Curry on the Celtics, just so we can call him Green Curry

His handles still need a bit of work, but I'm 100% sure he's going to improve there.

Other than that he's lacking the athleticism that young Kobe had, but the other facets of his game can definitely improve and get up there.

I think his playing style is different than Kobe, I see more of a 6'9 Durant in style. He's going to be an incredible player, is also really easy to root for. He's been living in the gym this summer, already bulked up quite a bit too.

He had a crazy amount of big dunks and stuff all year, but outside of the dunk on LeBron then the go ahead 3, this was my favorite Tatum highlight of the year.

How dare you

cant lie I cracked up laughing at this one

They're very different as human beings. Actually, Tatum is lot like the mature version of Pierce as a person, but I suspect that if Pierce had had the same background, he'd have matured younger too. (Pierce had a conventional broken-but-loving-home kind of poverty upbringing; Tatum had two parents very visibly sacrificing for his career, and also hit fatherhood early.)