The Lakers’ glorious past is never far away from the minds of its fans, its executives and its players in literal and figurative ways. The specter of that past is why there is such urgency within the organization for a return to championship contention.
The literal reminders of it hang in the rafters. On Thursday night one also showed up in the flesh.
Kobe Bryant sat on the baseline in a corner diagonally across from the Lakers bench with his hands clasped in front of his gray suit for most of the game, with a front-row seat to another critical moment in Laker history.