Evergreen WHERE? It's a big planet.

Was thinking M grandiflora at first but leaves are a bit off (not lustrous enough, but may be lighting).

Give more clues.

Possibly Ficus rubiginosa (rustyleaf fig). That one leaf might be showing a bit of rusty-color on the underside, but it could just be a shadow.

Rusty undersides also characterize most M. Grandifloras. Again, general location/zone would help greatly.

Bark is wrong for magnolia grandiflora

Rhododendron?

I'd go along with a Ficus (leaves, terminal bud and bark all point that way) but I don't know enough about them to say which one. If it is possible to snap off a leaf it will bleed white latex if it is a Ficus.

tech_capitan, if you could give some scale in future postings it would be helpful. We can't tell if those leaves an inch or a foot long.

Agree it looks more like a ficus than anything else readily identifiable. FWIW beng12 no remotely common rhododendron has such short leaves and if they did (like the very rare R. yuefengense) they would be in whorls per the norm for the genus. It's a very diverse one though, and of course you couldn't rule out a very rare Vireya called something like...Rhododendron ficifolia!
Still - the Ficus from around Sydney is the most logical supposition so far.

location: Riverside, California, Zone 9B,

Yes it would be a common tree in zn 9b California, as one of the hardiest so-called banyans.
What I particularly see as similar are the new leaf sheaves or whatever they are called:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_rubiginosa#/media/File:Port_Jackson_Fig_detail.jpg