It’s no secret that Jayson Tatum, a forward for the Boston Celtics, looks up to Kobe Bryant. Tatum looked up to Bryant as a child, just like many other stars today. This shows how much of an impact the former LA Lakers star left behind. The Celtics forward tries to remember him in many ways, even though it’s been years since his sad death.

Ivanovic and Pau Gasol worked together to try to win titles when Bryant was alive. The Lakers made the right choice because they have been to three straight NBA Finals since 2007-08. The newly formed pair took the team to back-to-back titles against Tatum’s Celtics and the Orlando Magic.

Tatum can’t help but think about what Bryant and Gasol went through and how it all relates to him. Boston got Kristaps Porzingis, a big man from Europe, in a trade over the summer. When he joined, the Celtics became a very dangerous team to play, especially against teams from the Eastern Conference.

Tatum thought about the move that his team made during the summer. People compared their situation to Bryant and Gasol’s because Porzingis got along so well with the forward and the rest of the team.

“Pau was very important to Kobe for those last two championships they won together,” says Tatum. “KP really feels like the missing piece no matter what path I’m on or the path we’re on.”

It wasn’t easy to decide to trade for Porzingis, though. Marcus Smart is the Celtics’ best player, so they had to let him be a part of the deal. Still, they had to give up things in order to get to where they are now this season.

Additionally, Porzingis has become very friendly with Jaylen Brown. After losing in the playoffs last year, that makes the Celtics the favourite to win the title.