EL SEGUNDO — Lawrence Tanter’s voice bellowed over one of the most memorable moments of Derrin Horton’s life.
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Walking into their wedding reception, Horton and his wife, Elise, heard the words of their vows turning official straight from the iconic-baritone voice of the Lakers’ longtime public address announcer.
“‘For the very first time, Mr. Derrin and Elise Horton!’” Tanter announced in a recording he had sent in specially for the longtime KTLA sports anchor.
“It was so special to me,” Horton said.
Horton is now taking up the mantle that Tanter – who died last week after retiring from his role with the Lakers in June – immortalized at Lakers games for 43 years. Horton, a seven-time Emmy Award winner with more than 35 years of broadcasting experience, has been hired as the Lakers’ new public address announcer, the team announced on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a dream,” Horton said Thursday, speaking with local media for the first time since taking over for Tanter. “I mean, are you kidding me? The Lakers? …”
“When I heard about LT and the opportunity here, I reached out and I had a chance to communicate with LT. He was such a legend, and I considered him to be a friend. So now to be here, obviously, there’s no way you can fill his shoes, and so you just come here with a passion and a goal to be informative and entertaining and be a part of ‘Showtime’.”
It’s been a long time coming for Horton, who spent 15 years as the sports anchor at KTLA during a sports broadcasting and voiceover career that’s taken him across the country since graduating from Syracuse in 1991. As a high schooler at Holy Cross in Flushing, New York, Horton wasn’t good enough, he said, to make the varsity basketball team.
So, instead, he stayed involved by grabbing the microphone. His first gig in broadcasting? Being the public address announcer of Holy Cross’ basketball games.
“To actually come back to the first passion that I ever had, and the Lakers?” Horton said. “Are you kidding me? Like, I mean, I still remember when I got that email, and it said, ‘Welcome to the Lakers,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, my god!’ You can’t act like it’s not a big deal.’”
Horton knows the expectations that come with the role Tanter once held. He said he’s been speaking with Chris Cunanan, the director of game entertainment for the Lakers, about tempering down his in-game voice because he’s entering the role as a longtime fan.
“I’ve been talking Lakers basketball in Los Angeles for 30 years,” Horton said. “(Fans) already kind of know where I’m coming from, but obviously this is a whole different assignment.”
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During his audition process, Horton admitted that he was trying to emulate Tanter’s voice and cadence. Those were his instincts; it’s what Horton and Lakers fans around the world have known for so long.
Horton realized through the process that there’s no way to emulate Tanter.
Lakers president and chief business officer Lon Rosen – who was once part of the hiring process for Tanter – watched from the perch during Horton’s audition.
“Hey!” Rosen said to Horton. “Knock it off! I want to hear your voice.”
So, Horton let his natural voice out of the bag.
“That’s what I want,” Rosen responded to Horton’s natural cadence. “Just be yourself.”
Horton called Rosen’s response to his audition a special moment on the journey to landing a job that he made clear several times Thursday he considers a pinch-me accomplishment.
Horton said his focus is on the fundamentals and the simplification of being energetic and entertaining.
The rest, he said, will come over time.
“I’ll never be – nobody could be, who could be LT?” Horton said. “His legacy was built over five decades. I’m going to miss him. … I was hoping to talk to him before the first game and to get some thoughts from him, but, we’re going to miss him, and I hope I do him proud.”
AT THE BUZZER
The Lakers are hiring former NBA guard Pooh Jeter as their director of scouting as they continue to build out their front office, ESPN’s Andscape was first to report on Thursday morning.
Jeter most recently served as a player development coach with the Portland Trail Blazers and as an assistant general manager of Portland’s G League franchise, the Rip City Remix.
Just three weeks ago, the Lakers hired former Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as an assistant GM to help run the team’s scouting department, the NBA draft process and player evaluation. Earlier in the offseason, the Lakers hired assistant GM Rohan Ramadas to focus on salary cap, analytics and data.
“The biggest change for us is probably Rohan and that side of things with data, strategy and analytics,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Wednesday. “There’s some cool stuff we’re rolling out for player development, some stuff that, frankly, we – Rob and I – envisioned two years ago and just didn’t have the manpower to do it. I think it’ll be really beneficial for the players.”
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