Mark Appelbaum sat courtside for most of the afternoon on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center wearing a maroon Lower Merion High School jersey with the name “Bryant” on the back as he watched the intersection of two of his favorite sports entities.
He is 51 years old, a Chino Hills resident and went to every single one of Lonzo Ball’s high school games. He didn’t want to miss the start of Ball’s NBA career. He’s also been a Lakers fan since the days when Magic Johnson was playing instead of constructing the Lakers’ roster as their president of basketball operations.