EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- He would peek up while sprinting out of the Staples Center tunnel for warm-ups, and again as the anthem played, and again, and again, throughout the game.
"All the time," Kobe Bryant says.
During blowouts and heart-stoppers, amid stoppages and action, if upset or seeking a spark.
"All the time," he says again.
Hidden in those quiet moments, the Lakers icon would gaze skyward, toward the southwest corner of the Lakers' downtown Los Angeles home, and scan the franchise's retired jerseys.
"All. The. Time," Bryant says once more.