There was some discussion on another topic about how bad the ESPN broadcasts are, and that got me thinking of how good our commentators are on Spectrum. In particular, I just really love Stu Lantz. Not to be morbid, but he’s getting up there in age, so I realized part of why I prefer Spectrum is because I want to hear as much of Stu as possible before he retires. So just wanted to make this thread to give him his flowers and see how the rest of the fans feel about Stu. He’s been the voice of the Lakers my whole life. He has great basketball intelligence and is one of the more unbiased announcers. When it’s justified, he’s not afraid to scathingly call out the Lakers, or give major props to the opposition. While he has some quirks that may have annoyed me in the past, at this point it’s mostly endearing. Also love hearing some of his classic “Stu-isms”, those funny phrases that we’ve heard over the past several decades. At one point my friends and I were trying to compile a list to make a Bingo game out of Stu’s phrases to play during a game. Mr. Momentum has switched jersey’s. That was NOOOOICE! You’ll never win a battle with Mr. Floor. The little fake conversations he makes up, “Lebron says ‘you can’t guard me young pup’ as he glides to the rim for the dunk”! His snark when a game is decided but one team still calls timeouts or taking fouls at the end of the game when he just wants to go home and sleep lol. Etc, etc. I don’t know if this is considered blasphemy since maybe he isn’t quite AS iconic, but in my book I would almost like to see Stu get a jersey retired right next to Chick’s whenever he decides to hang it up.
I like our guys lots. Billy Mac does a good, comfortable job, and love Stu for all the same reasons. Not everyone agrees … a few here would like to change…. but they’re just wrong. He’s our last line as well to the great Chick Hearn.
^^^ This! I like Stu, many don't but sports fans can be such yahoo's, most of them don't know s*** and don't like anyone who is better than them. There has never been another Chick and probably never will be, but Stu is one of the better ones since. The only think that was better than Chick was Chick'n Stew, errr uhhh I mean Chick and Stu!
I love Stu. He was by far the best broadcast partner for Chick. Those two together were such a force. There will never be another Chick but it’s great to have the continuity with Stu all these years since and he’s terrific in his own right!
stu is awesome. wish he still had joel meyers at his side but i like billy mac too i've always liked how (like chick) he's not afraid to criticize the lakers when they play poorly
I’ve always appreciated Stu’s objectivity. I moved out of California 17 years ago and in the early days of League Pass, I’d have to listen to the opponent’s broadcast team on the road and it’s painful to listen to homers. I’d rather have my announcer call things objectively instead of crying about the refs like others do.
That is one thing I will miss when we move out of California. I am probably going to have to figure out a way to get the same local broadcast I get here, when I am there. Not really sure if it is even possible.
You silly goose it’s Wino that’s leaving CA not Stu who’s still here with the living. Is there any way to get SSN with its game feed outside of Cali? Am guessing VPN can’t help since it’s a local station offered only on cable or sat?
Fear not! A few years back NBA LP started allowing you to select which broadcast you want to watch. So besides the national TV games where League Pass is blacked out, you’re able to watch the SSN broadcast for every Lakers game.
Stu and Joel were like Kobe and Shaq , didn't like each other much but were great together . I still find Billy terrible though
I miss his voice overs for highlights before a commercial break. Like the ones he'd do on KCAL. Fish said, you take it big fella, and Shaq said not this time Fish, I'm gonna hand it off to Kob. And Kob says don't mind if I do! On the Lakers. Basketball. Network.
@Wino …. so there you go. Both of them are able to get the SSN feed and @wcsoldier81 even from France. Whether you like Billy Mac or not.
I’m cool with Billy Mac. Way better than Sunderland. I do miss Joel though. He was great. Too bad he and Stu clashed personally.
Great, I am praying for this. Hell, I cannot even stand to watch Lakers game with my brother in the room. He will always point out every possible negative angle, according to him, just to be fair and even. I told him, I don't want to listen to fair and even, I am a fan and root for them with every fiber of my being. Then I quit watching games with him. Thhhhyyyygghhht!!! Love my local broadcasters over anyone on the national level.
i've never heard of stu and joel having issues. don't think i remember noticing anything on the air either. is this well documented? sunderland was the worst. such a boring voice to listen to. billy mac isn't the best but he's far better than sunderland was. he was the worst guy they could've chosen to replace chick
It was a pretty well known rumor that Stu didn’t really get along with Joel. Too bad because I really liked him. His spot was slated for Spero but of course he took the Knicks job.
Westbrook for Spero works in the trade checker (if we can use the go between dude West did [and then denied] in signing Snake 2 years ago) …. to sweet talk the Knicks and Silver.
