LOS ANGELES — Kyle Kuzma stared at the figure across the table from him on Tuesday night and unleashed a steady stream of questions.

About mentality, about approach, about success.

What else do you talk to Kobe Bryant about?

Kuzma spent the evening quizzing the retired legend at a West Hollywood steakhouse; a young Lakers star getting acquainted with an old one.

Related Articles Whicker: Lakers fall victim to Joel Embiid’s history lesson

Joel Embiid, 76ers outshine Lakers in battle of rebuilding franchises

Lakers’ Larry Nance Jr. reconnects with his Army pen pal 14 years later “Just work,” Kuzma said. “That’s cliché, but that’s what he stands for, that’s what he values. That’s what I value. So that was really the message.”

Kuzma said he reached out to Bryant to forge a relationship and that their discussion was very detail-oriented, focusing on “a lot of little things within basketball that go a long way.”

Since late in his career, Bryant has established himself as a mentor for players throughout the league.

Bryant retired after 20 seasons with the Lakers in 2016, but found a new link to the organization when Magic Johnson hired his long-time agent, Rob Pelinka, as general manager last spring. Pelinka and Bryant still communicate frequently.

“He’s just really enjoyed the way Kyle’s attacked his rookie year,” Pelinka said. “The mentality he’s played with. For him to grab dinner with him, swap war stories, is invaluable. And I think Kyle was in awe by everything he heard.”

Pelinka said he helped facilitate the dinner, but that it was initiated by Kuzma.

So far, the meeting between Bryant and Kuzma is unique among young Lakers. Bryant has not met with second overall pick Lonzo Ball, sources said.

“I want to be good,” Kuzma said before Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “Why not learn from one of the best? So I took that approach. Of course, it was cool. But I had a lot of questions and I was really excited just to get to know him, meet him, learn from him.”

Naturally, Pelinka got reports from both sides after the dinner concluded.

“Kyle said he heard stories he could have never imagined,” Pelinka said. “And Kobe just said Kyle’s got an edge and a spirit about him, and he’s going to be one of those alpha dog players for this team, for sure.”

The 27th pick in June’s draft, Kuzma has found early popularity and success in a city that bequeaths one and craves the other. Entering Wednesday he ranked third on the team with 14.9 points per game and tied for second with 6.8 rebounds.

Kuzma wanted to learn from Bryant how to parlay early success into something more.

“What was he doing as a young player to make those steps that he made to get from here to here,” Kuzma said. “From here to here. Just what he did as a young player or what he wanted to learn back then. Stuff like that.”

Kuzma, who grew up in Flint, Mich., tried to paint his evening with Bryant as a business meeting and downplayed the thrill of meeting Bryant. But he was not entirely successful.

“He was one of my favorite players for sure,” he said, breaking into a grin. “He’s one of the greatest players of all time.

“He’s Kobe Bryant.”