{"id":473986,"date":"2026-09-24T07:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T07:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/473986\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T07:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T07:48:09","slug":"beloved-lakers-public-address-announcer-lawrence-tanter-dies-at-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/473986\/","title":{"rendered":"Beloved Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter dies at 76"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Lakers<\/a>\u2019 longtime public address announcer Lawrence Tanter<\/a> died Wednesday, the team announced. He was 76.<\/p>\n

Remembered for his smooth, baritone voice, Tanter served as the voice of the Lakers for more than four decades. Tanter narrated chapters of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/a> and Magic Johnson<\/a>, Kobe Bryant<\/a> and Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a> and now Luka Doncic<\/a>. After a stroke suffered in March forced him to retire from his game-day role, he transitioned to an advisory role in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 43 years, LT\u2019s voice served as the soundtrack to Lakers games at the arena,\u201d the team said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cHe will be remembered as a cherished member of the Lakers family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanter started with the team in 1982 when the Lakers played in the Forum. His signature calls \u2014 \u201ctoooo many steps,\u201d \u201cKobeee Bryant,\u201d \u201cLllaker Girlsss\u201d \u2014 were not boastful or over the top. For a franchise that came to embody old Hollywood glamour, Tanter\u2019s voice became the ideal soundtrack.<\/p>\n

\u201cA true original that added his unique style to Showtime,\u201d Lakers governor Jeanie Buss wrote on X. \u201cRest in peace, LT.\u201d<\/p>\n

He backed fans up as they celebrated 10 championships during his tenure. He offered comfort in other painful times.<\/p>\n

Days after Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020, Tanter guided a sold-out crowd through a tearful pregame routine, introducing all five of the Lakers\u2019 starters with a familiar call: \u201cNumber 24, 6-6, 20th year out of Lower Merion High School, Kobeeee Bryant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-7 Tanter towered over many, but greeted everyone with a kind smile and warm conversation. Just as the players he serenaded with his calls became institutions in the sport, so did he. Tanter was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcaster Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the team wears an LT patch this season,\u201d former Lakers center and current team broadcaster Mychal Thompson wrote on X on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great vibe dude, always engaged me in conversation about jazz, he was a music lover and the best announcer in the NBA,\u201d Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and longtime Lakers fan Flea wrote on X. \u201cI realized when attending many other NBA arenas that no one else came close.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many in his profession brought energy with loud, hyped-up calls, Tanter held firm with his cool style. He \u201cnever tried to be a cheerleader,\u201d Tanter told The Times\u2019 Bill Plaschke in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great run,\u201d Tanter said after announcing his retirement. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lakers\u2019 longtime public address announcer Lawrence Tanter died Wednesday, the team announced. He was 76. Remembered for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[186431,54702,186432,2624,88960,17959,48,52,51,1415,80223,47,50,49,51836,25807,51080,186430,427,68,316],"class_list":["post-473986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-baritone-voice","tag-chapter","tag-cherished-member","tag-june","tag-kareem-abdul-jabbar","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lakers","tag-lakers-game","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lt","tag-shaquille-oneal","tag-soundtrack","tag-tanter","tag-team","tag-tuesday","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}