Along with growing up in Lakers territory, Anthony Brown also comes from a family of Orange County hoops stars.
His father, Quentin, was the 1977 Central Valley CIF Player of the Year before making his way to OC to play at UC Irvine for the next four years.
And while Anthony was born in Bellflower, he, too, made his way down south to his hometown of Fountain Valley.
But Brown made his name in nearby Huntington Beach, where he was named league MVP as a junior at Ocean View High. Already enshrined in the school's basketball hall of fame, Brown enjoyed a storied career with the Seahawks, whom he led to the 2009 CIF IV-AA title with 21 points in the championship game.
They went on to become Division II state runners-up, while Brown was named First Team All-State for his efforts.
Thirteen years after Brown's father played at UCI, a freshman named Brian Keefe joined the Anteaters in 1994.
Keefe — who is now an assistant coach for the Lakers, played two years for UC Irvine and even ranked seventh in the Big West in scoring with 16.4 points per game as a sophomore, but he transferred to UNLV, where he had a smaller role with the Runnin' Rebels.
While the Lakers have never had a player who went to UCI, they once had an alum from its Orange County rival.
Cal State Fullerton product Cedric Ceballos joined the team in 1994, making the All-Star Game in his first year.
The small forward was a bully for the Titans in his senior year, averaging well over a double-double with 23.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest.
After four seasons in Phoenix, he immediately made an impact with the Lakers, as he was named Player of the Month in December for averaging 27.8 points and 9.0 rebounds — much of which stemmed from a 50-point outburst against Minnesota, which was Los Angeles' first such games in over 20 years.
Ceballos remained with the team until 1997 before being traded back to the Suns for a trade package that brought in Robert Horry. Nonetheless, he enjoyed a successful tenure in purple and gold, averaging 20.9 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Though Ceballos is the only Laker with Orange County collegiate ties, there have been several who grew up in the area.
Dennis Hamilton — a Huntington Beach native — spent his rookie year with the Lakers, averaging 2.8 points for the team that fell to Boston in the 1968 NBA Finals.
His fellow Huntington Beach High alum, Jack Haley, had one of the more atypical journeys to the NBA.
Haley was more attracted to the waves than the hardwood when growing up in Seal Beach. His father, Jack Sr., won the first-ever U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach back in 1959, and the younger Haley felt the same pull to the ocean, serving as captain of the HBHS surf team.
Haley didn't even begin playing basketball until his second year at Huntington Beach's Golden West College, though he quickly progressed enough to earn a spot on UCLA's roster.
The big man played sparingly on the 1991-92 Lakers, averaging only 1.6 points, though he did remain involved with the organization, later serving as co-host for the team's “Lakers Live” pre-game show.
Prior to Brown, the last OC native to don purple and gold was Mater Dei High product Jamal Sampson. The cousin of 1983 No. 1 overall pick Ralph Sampson led the Monarchs to the 2001 state championship and later joined L.A. for the 2003-04 season, though he only played in 10 games.
As far as pro sports go in Orange County, Anaheim is the only spot to be.
In addition to MLB's Angels and the NHL's Ducks, the city has also been home to two professional basketball teams: the ABA's Anaheim Amigos and the D-League's Anaheim Arsenal.
Anaheim — which has hosted the Lakers in the preseason every non-lockout year since 1999 — was also briefly a temporary NBA town.
The Los Angeles Clippers — which had won a 1992 playoff game in Anaheim after it had to be moved during the L.A. riots — played between six and eight home games there every year from 1994-99.
The Lakers took their first trip down the 5 Freeway in 1997 and came home after a 22-point loss.
But it was their turn to enjoy Anaheim after that.
The following year, they beat the Clippers, 108-85, behind 32 points from Shaquille O'Neal, while Derek Fisher collected 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Lakers and Clippers played one more in Anaheim in 1999, which saw the purple and gold send their intracity opponents to their 10th straight loss to open the season. Six Lakers scored in double figures — including O'Neal, who led with 19 and 11 rebounds — while the Clippers went on to compile an 0-17 record.
One player who competed in all three Anaheim tilts was Kobe Bryant, who later became an Orange County resident himself.
In 2001, Bryant bought a home in Newport Beach, where he later set up headquarters for his company, Kobe Inc.
Bryant famously found a way to avoid traffic from Newport to L.A., flying high above Southern California packed freeways in his private helicopter that he used to get to Staples Center for home games.
