Most basketball fans only know Stu Lantz as 1 of the best color commentators in the business who has covered the Lakers on TV for an incredible 35 years. However, before joining the broadcast booth he was an exceptional player. At Nebraska in the 1960s he became the 1st 2-time All-Big 8 selection in school history. After getting drafted in 1968 he spent almost a decade in the NBA and averaged more than 12 PPG. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Stu about being a great FT shooter and working with Chick Hearn. Today is Stu’s 76th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
In the 1964 state title game between your Uniontown High School team and Midland High School (who were each 24-0) you had a 3-PT win while holding Midland’s star guard Norm Van Lier to only 3 PTS: what are your memories of that game, and how were you able to keep Van Lier to such a low point total? Both teams went into that title game undefeated. We thought that they were a better team but we knew we were good as well so we persevered. They also had future All-American in Simmie Hill, who was quite a good player in his own right. Norm and I later went on to have some battles in the NBA as well.
Your coach was the legendary Abe Everhart: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing you ever learned from him? He taught me that nobody was special so he treated everyone on the team the same. He also taught me fairness/sportsmanship: he did not like to beat teams badly or run up the score, which always stayed with me.
As a center you were named 1st-team all-state and scored 12 PTS in a win over Plymouth-Whitemarsh to clinch the 1964 AAA Pennsylvania state title and complete a perfect 28-0 season (on a team that is still considered 1 of the best in Pennsylvania high school history): what did it mean to you to win the title, and how were you able to play center despite being 6’2”?! I always played out of position starting in high school. It meant a lot to us because we were upset the previous year despite entering the playoffs undefeated. We told Coach Everhart that we would win it all the following season so that gave us a sense of redemption.
What are your memories of the 1967 NIT, the 1st in Nebraska history (George Stone scored 46 PTS in a win by Marshall)? Stone was quite a shooter but we did not have a lot of videotape to use for scouting back then. We had heard that he was an inside player so we ended up giving him the outside shot…and he just made jumper after jumper.
In the summer of 1968 you were drafted by San Diego in the 3rd round of the NBA draft and by Oakland in the ABA draft: how close did you come to going to the ABA, and do you have any regrets? I was not close to joining the ABA because I wanted to go with the established “big brother” to have some security. I have no regrets at all: had I not joined the NBA I might have ended up as a teacher.
In 1971 the Rockets moved from San Diego to Houston: what was it like to be on a team that switched cities, and what impact did the change of scenery have on the team? It was not that big of a deal because we get paid to play the game and half our games were on the road anyway. That being said, my family and I loved San Diego, where we still maintain a residence. It is hard to uproot your family.
You finished the 1972 season 6th in the NBA with 83.8 FT%: did you feel like you were 1 of the best FT shooters in the league, and what is your secret for FT shooting? I do not know if I even knew where I ranked at the end of that year: there was not a lot of focus on individual statistics until the early-1980s. The secret is to work on fundamentals and practice them over and over, otherwise you will never get better.
You averaged 12.4 PPG while playing for 5 different teams during your 8-year career: how satisfied are you with your career, and was it hard to separate the personal side from the business side of professional sports? I learned early on that as much as I loved playing the sport, you have to approach it as a business when you get to the professional level. My biggest regret is that I never won a title: that is the reason that you play the game.
You have been the Lakers’ TV color commentator since 1987, sharing the microphone with the legendary Chick Hearn until he passed away in 2002: what was it like to work with Chick, and how long do you plan on sticking around for? I was very lucky. I got a degree in elementary education and never took a single journalism class, but Chick told me early in my career that he would like to work with me if the opportunity ever presented itself. I thought he was just saying that because he was a nice guy, but he ended up contacting me after I retired and the rest is history. I was beside myself knowing that I got to sit along the best there ever was at calling a basketball game: I still miss him to this day.
You also worked as an instructor at the late Pete Newell’s renowned Big Man’s Camp in Hawaii: how did you like working with him? Pete is the 1 person who had the most impact and was the biggest influence on the playing/teaching aspect of my career after college. He drafted me when he was GM for the Rockets and worked with me individually every summer on my guard skills. Our relationship blossomed and he would recommend me to work with guards while he worked with the big men.