When Derrin Horton was auditioning to become the Lakers new public address announcer, he was given a mandate that he needed to hear.
It’s one he’ll keep in mind as he steps into a role that was previously held by a franchise legend.
During his tryout, Horton could feel himself trying to emulate Lawrence Tanter – the franchise’s legendary PA announcer for 40-plus years who retired in June and died in September.
It was a natural instinct in light of the reverence Horton had for Tanter.
But that wasn’t what Lon Rosen, the Lakers president of business operations, was wanting.
Rosen wanted to hear Horton, and his voice.
“At first, I showed up, and I’m like, ‘all right, I got to I got to really, ‘Welcome to.’ You know? I’m coming – I’m trying to be this announcer,” Horton recalled to a group of four beat reporters on Thursday. “And Lon Rosen was up in the perch, and he said, ‘Hey! Knock it off! I want to hear your voice.’
“And so I just was myself, and that felt really good. He was like, ‘That’s what I want. Just be yourself.’ So that was that was pretty special.’”
Horton’s voice earned him a distinct honor as the franchise’s next PA announcer, a role Horton called a “dream.”
He grew up in New York before graduating from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1991.
Horton became a sports broadcaster for KCAL-TV in 1998 and has been in Southern California since.
He’s worked for Fox Sports and NFL TV Network, and has done voice work for NFL Films.
The seven-time Emmy Award winner will announce his first Lakers game Thursday, Oct. 8 during a preseason match up against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
“Fell in love with Showtime, and when I heard about LT and the opportunity here, I reached out and I had a chance to communicate with LT,” Horton said. “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.
Becoming the Lakers new PA is a “full-circle moment” for Horton.
While this will be his first job as a PA professionally, his first opportunity in the broadcasting field was PA announcing for his high school (Holy Cross High School in New York) because “I was not good enough to make the team.”
Now, he’s the Lakers new PA announcer.
“I don’t think enthusiasm is going to be an issue because like I said, I’ve loved the Lakers since Magic and the Showtime era,” Horton said about his style. “Just to be informative and take care of the fundamentals because people are there – they want to know what’s going on with the game, so that’s the first goal. Also, they’re there to see the Lakers. What I do is just try to enhance the experience like a little salt and pepper, season it up a little bit. And I’m just so grateful that the Lakers have said, ‘hey, take your time, take care of the business, and then grow into your style.’ And so that’s what I’m most excited about.”
Horton and Tanter were close.
So close that Tanter recorded the announcement for Horton’s wedding introduction at their reception for him and his wife, Elise.
Horton knows he can’t imitate Tanter.
But Horton’s hopes to honor to the legacy he’s left behind.
“There’s no way that you can ever emulate or be LT,” Horton said. “I prefer his style of PA announcing, kind of understated and professional. But like I said, right now it’s all about the fundamentals: Be entertaining, be energetic, and the other stuff will come. But I’ll I’ll never be – nobody could be, who could be LT? I mean, his legacy was built over five decades. I’m going to miss him. It’s so funny because, I was hoping, I knew about his role with the Lakers, and 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.”
