Lakers new PA announcer Derrin Horton hoping to make Lawrence Tanter proud

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 s...