The Fifth Hour: Smooth Jazz and "Laker girlllls"

Ben Maller opens his fifth hour with a confession: he is a card-carrying member of the Lakers Haters Society of America. He has "paid his dues," he says, and has "complained professionally" against purple-and-gold propaganda with "the dedication of a monk copying manuscripts." But this episode is not about hating the Lakers. It is about Lawrence Tanter, the team's public address announcer for 43 seasons, whose run ended this week after a stroke forced him into retirement at age 76. And the twist is that what made Tanter interesting had nothing to do with the Lakers at all.

The man behind the microphone

Lawrence Tanter — known universally as LT — started as the Lakers' PA announcer in 1982, when a gallon of gas cost $1.22, Michael Jackson had just released Thriller, and the Commodore 64 personal computer went on sale for the first time. He became the longest-tenured PA announcer in Lakers history, his baritone voice welcoming the Showtime era of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy through 10 NBA championships, then the Kobe years, the bubble championship with LeBron, and — because "life is all about balance" — the Smush Parker era. His signature call, the one that became part of the Lakers' soundtrack, was "Laker girlllls."