Celtics' Jayson Tatum has hit a dividing line in his career

Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch

Sports columnist

The header photo of Jayson Tatum’s X account (the platform formerly known as Twitter) is a photo of Kobe Bryant in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform from the side view with Bryant’s head resting on a basketball. The profile picture is Bryant in a suit and tie with his left hand on the shoulder of a young smiling Tatum, clad in a Lakers jersey, not yet tall enough to come up to Bryant’s shoulder.

Because Tatum excelled to the point of becoming an All-NBA player, his admiration for and idolization of Bryant’s basketball ability took on a different dimension. Tatum got to know Bryant, worked out with Bryant during the summer of 2018, and he has talked many times over the years about the connection.

Whether in the aftermath of winning his first NBA