Kobe Bryant in Lakers’ hearts, on their minds after winning NBA title

Now it’s done. The torch has been passed again, handed from George Mikan to Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to Bryant and Pau Gasol and now to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. One must imagine Bryant proud, smiling and cheering. The Lakers won their record-tying 17 NBA championship with a commanding 106-93 victory Sunday over the Miami Heat in the decisive Game 6 of the Finals, a win that was 10 years in the making, through toil and turmoil and through one unimaginable loss. Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash in January shook Laker Nation, Southern California and the entire...