'It's Been a Blessing': Lawrence Tanter, Voice of the Lakers Since Showtime, Dies at 76

Shortly before he went into hospice care last month, Lawrence Tanter sent ESPN a text. Quote me, he wrote: "It's been a blessing."

Tanter, the Lakers' public-address announcer for 43 years, has died at 76, the team said Wednesday. He had a stroke late last regular season, missed the last six home games and the playoffs, and retired in June.

Fans knew him as LT. He was 6-foot-7 with a deep baritone and could easily have been the loudest thing in the building, but he chose not to be. His delivery was smooth and understated, shaped by his other career as a jazz DJ on Los Angeles radio. He wore an eight-panel cap, had a neat white goatee, and stretched out one line that everyone remembers: "The Laker girlllssss."

Two nights that stand out

At the first game after Kobe Bryant died in January 2020, Tanter introduced every Lakers starter with the same line honoring Bryant. That season ended in the Orlando bubble, and the introductions played before those games were recorded by Tanter in his home studio in Porter Ranch.

He grew up in Chicago and played college basketball at the University of Dubuque. With the Lakers he was part of 10 championships and 16 conference titles, going back to the Showtime era. Jeanie Buss said in June that he had narrated every chapter of Lakers basketball since the 1980s. The team hasn't named his replacement.