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“First, it lets them see you are a real person. Also, it builds trust. I may talk to Nick Young about where he’ll want to go to dinner when the Lakers play in New Orleans. That’s not a basketball conversation, but it helps build a rapport between us.” During the game Markazi sits

Arash Markazi (left) has watched the Lakers win three of these NBA championship trophies.

on press row, an area reserved for members of the media. In large markets such as Los Angeles, press row is actually behind one of the baskets and a few rows back. At any time during the game, or even throughout the day, Markazi may field a phone call, text message, or email from an ESPN editor asking him to file a quick story. It may concern the Lakers, but it just as often may concern something else related to Los Angeles sports. “I like to work on longer features,” Markazi says, “but a three hundred-word story that receives just as many clicks online is just as valuable and takes far less time.”

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