{"id":751710,"date":"2026-06-21T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751710\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T14:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:32:12","slug":"lawrence-tanter-was-lakers-voice-whose-subtlety-spoke-volumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751710\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawrence Tanter was Lakers’ voice whose subtlety spoke volumes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For more than four decades his voice was embraced by millions, a calming baritone in a sea of Lakers<\/a> bedlam.<\/p>\n

Yet in the most unfair of twists, on the night his career ended he was silent and alone.<\/p>\n

Three months ago, Lawrence Tanter<\/a> was walking through his bedroom when he suddenly collapsed while losing all strength in his arms and legs.<\/p>\n

He fell and couldn\u2019t get up. He lives alone, so he couldn\u2019t cry out for help. He was able to secure his phone, but he says he was too stubborn to call 911.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to get up by myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew I would eventually get up by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this 6-foot-7 bear of a man was too weak to get up by himself. Listening to a Lakers road game on a bedside radio, he remained on the floor and eventually fell asleep until finally summoning his oldest friend the next morning.<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers star LeBron James salutes public address announcer Lawrence Tanter before the start of a game in 2024.<\/p>\n

(Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cI got there and I\u2019m like, why didn\u2019t you call sooner?\u201d Joe Williams said. \u201cI told him, \u2018I know you\u2019re a warrior but, c\u2019mon man, this is serious.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Serious enough to be diagnosed as a stroke. Serious enough to quietly end the most sonorous, soothing stretch in local sports history.<\/p>\n

For 43 years as the Lakers\u2019 iconic public address announcer, Tanter has been the coolest sound in the city, the measured, reassuring voice that decorated the team\u2019s two hype-filled homes with gravitas and grace.<\/p>\n

When the Lakers announced his retirement last week as he continues to battle effects from the March 17 stroke, the man known to everyone as simply \u201cLT\u201d closed his career with taciturn perfection, summing up a Lakers lifetime in eight words.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great run,\u201d he intoned this week from a hospital bed, his pipes still the strongest part of him. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is Lakers fans who have been blessed, gifted with a voice that, whenever they attended a game, reminded them they were home.<\/p>\n

\u201cLT is in every way a part of Laker history,\u201d said former Laker and current broadcaster Mychal Thompson<\/a>. \u201cHe too is a Laker legend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter gets set up at the scorer\u2019s table before a game in 2011.<\/p>\n

(Gary Friedman \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

When the retirement news broke with the Lakers announcing they were moving LT into an advisory role \u2014 a classy good-bye \u2014 fans everywhere broke out their LT best.<\/p>\n

\u201cToooo many steps.\u201d \u2026 \u201cJames Woooorthy.\u201d \u2026 \u201dLeBronnnn James.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, of course, everybody\u2019s favorite\u2026\u201cLlllaker Girlsss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always imagine, if he could hear God\u2019s voice, it would sound like LT\u2019s,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

This was never more true than on a somber night in late January in 2020. LT put his giant arms around a grieving city with pregame introductions that will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one guard, number 24, 6-6, 20th year out of Lower Merion High School, Kobeee Bryant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The player taking the court was Avery Bradley.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the other guard, number 24, 6-6, 20th year out of Lower Merion High School, Kobeee Bryant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter watches play from his spot at the scorer\u2019s table during a game in 2012.<\/p>\n

(Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The player taking the court was Danny Green.<\/p>\n

And on it went, all five Lakers introduced as Kobe Bryant<\/a> before their game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the ultimate tribute before the Lakers\u2019 first game since Bryant\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

It might have been LT\u2019s finest hour, and every second of it broke his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest introductions ever,\u201d he remembered.<\/p>\n

LT handled it simply by being LT, a comforting bard who could elicit much emotion with a slight change in cadence or key.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith his timing, his rhythm, he could get excitement going without raising his voice,\u201d said Bob Steiner<\/a>, the retired Lakers executive who hired LT in 1982. \u201cLawrence became a star in the same way Chick Hearn was.\u201d<\/p>\n

While working for the Lakers, LT also worked for several jazz and rhythm and blues radio stations in town, most notably KJLH, which gave him built-in credibility in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go around town, you will find that he was known almost as much for his radio work as his public address work,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

In combining the rhythm of jazz with the tenor of basketball, LT was the coolest cat at the scorer\u2019s table, a distinctive figure in a white goatee and a newsboy cap who raised the roof while never raising his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never tried to be a cheerleader,\u201d said LT, 76. \u201cI just tried to be a public address announcer.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many of today\u2019s public address announcers are screamers, LT was so subtle that his most repeated call involved not the action, but the in-game entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere we go, somebody recognizes his voice and does an imitation,\u201d Williams said. \u201cBut nothing gets repeated like \u2018Llllaker Girlsss.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Those two words, uttered at the end of every routine by the iconic dance team, contain the essence of LT\u2019s greatness. He knows what you\u2019re watching doesn\u2019t need any embellishment; he\u2019s capturing the scene with the power of subtlety.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sitting in the stands and when the dancers finish dancing, you say to your friends out loud, \u2018Llllaker Girlsss,\u2019 and everybody laughs,\u201d said Pete Arbogast<\/a>, who was the master of ceremonies when LT was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcaster Hall of Fame last year.<\/p>\n

LT\u2019s speech that afternoon was dominated by individual thank-yous to his many friends who attended the ceremony, typical LT humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my nose to my toes, I say thank you,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter is given brownies by actress Dyan Cannon before the start of a game in 2011.<\/p>\n

(Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Today it is the Lakers who are thanking him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the 1980s, LT has narrated every chapter of Lakers basketball, connecting generations of fans, players, coaches and staff while becoming a trusted and unforgettable part of the Lakers experience,\u201d Lakers governor Jeanie Buss<\/a> said in a statement. \u201cI am incredibly grateful for everything he has given to this franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

His next stop should be the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, where he deserves to be enshrined as a contributor, becoming the first public address announcer to receive such an honor.<\/p>\n

What other PA voice defined a franchise like LT? Who else missed just two games in 43 years? Name another PA announcer who accumulated nine championship rings yet refuses to wear any of them, ever, because it was never about him?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s high time the Hall of Fame inducts him as a valuable and legendary contributor to the game,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

And if he is one day inducted, how would he introduce himself?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one forward, number 43, 6-foot-7, from Thornton Township High School, Llllawrence TAN-ter \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

LT laughed at the thought. He never actually would say that. But wouldn\u2019t you like to hear it? Just once?<\/p>\n

\u201cLaker games,\u201d Thompson said, \u201cwill never sound the same again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For more than four decades his voice was embraced by millions, a calming baritone in a sea of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[461,49,48,8497,1112,268700,268702,52334,5407,120258,266147,459,11352,10492,119304,82,268701,83525,2552],"class_list":["post-751710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-city","tag-game","tag-iconic-public-address-announcer","tag-joe-williams","tag-lt","tag-lakers","tag-lakers-fan","tag-lawrence-tanter","tag-nba","tag-number","tag-player","tag-rhythm","tag-sports","tag-subtlety","tag-voice","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}