DeRozan aiming to emulate his idol: 'Everything growing up was Kobe'

Michael Jordan was to Kobe Bryant what Kobe Bryant is to DeMar DeRozan.

DeRozan's career, although not nearly as accomplished thus far, is very much a living tribute to the greatness of the recently-retired Bryant. In fact, there isn't a bigger fan of the Los Angeles Lakers icon than the Compton-native.

"I'd watched him growing up," DeRozan detailed in an illuminating profile with Brian Windhorst of ESPN. "I watched Kobe do everything. His shot. His footwork. How he works in the post. Everything growing up was Kobe. I tried to emulate the tough shots he took, his pump fake.

"There's nothing you can show me that Kobe has done on a court that I don't know about or have tried. I practice almost all of them."

DeRozan has Bryant's playbook down pat. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard lives off an assortment of crafty mid-range jumpers born out of shifty fakes and darting drives. Everything from how DeRozan fades on his jumpers, to his footwork in the post - that's all borrowed from Bryant.

Bryant, a Yoda-esque model to an entire generation of NBA players, took DeRozan under his wing when he was just a teenager.

"After we met, then he sort of watched me grow up," DeRozan said. "And he was always offering advice. He was always serious. That's one of the things I loved about him, his seriousness."

All the tutelage is coming together for DeRozan a decade later. His numbers over the last two seasons are practically a carbon copy of what Bryant put up over his career.