East Brunswick native enjoys rewarding TV career
Larry Burnett pens book with WNBA star Lisa Leslie
BY KRISTIN TANGEL Correspondent
L arry Burnett has come a long way in the world of sports since graduating from East Brunswick High School in Middlesex County in 1970.

Larry Burnett speaks with WNBA star Lisa Leslie during a Los Angeles Sparks broadcast. The two worked together on the recently released book "Don't Let the Lipstick Fool You: The Making of a Champion."

The one-time high school athlete became an Emmy-winning sportscaster, working all over the country for various networks, including ESPN in its early days. These days, he is the play-by-play announcer for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

He broke new ground recently when he assisted Lisa Leslie, the three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player and three-time Olympic gold medalist, in releasing "Don't Let the Lipstick Fool You: The Making of a Champion," released in April.

The book is written in Leslie's voice.

"It was all done by interview on tape, and I transcribed it," Burnett, 56, said of the writing process.

Burnett came up with the idea for the book about five years ago and approached Leslie, whom he described as "one of the most fascinating people I have met in more than 30 years in sports broadcasting."

Leslie, the Sparks' center who was the first woman to dunk in a professional basketball game, agreed to do the book.

"For some reason it was put on the back burner," Burnett said.

Recently, Leslie's husband, Michael Lockwood, pushed for its publication. Burnett then had the opportunity to interview Leslie about topics such as her marriage and her daughter, as well as her preparation for the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

"As much as I wanted it to come out earlier, it turned out to be a better book because of it," Burnett said of the wait. "We sat down and talked for hours and hours and hours. I was shocked about how open she was about her family and basketball."

The book is about far more than Leslie's exploits on the court, as it delves into Leslie's experiences as a child, at the University of Southern California, playing in Sicily, her modeling career, and meeting her husband through an anonymous phone number exchange.

Burnett said he would like to write another book, but he felt it was easy to do Leslie's story because it was very informative and interesting.

At East Brunswick High School, Burnett played baseball and wanted to make it to the majors, but he also had the ambition to become a broadcaster.

"I could be around sports and be entertaining, and that's how I decided to do that," he said.

Burnett said his fondest memories of East Brunswick are from his high school days, especially playing baseball. Later, when he was in college, Burnett said he would come home during the summers to do maintenance work in the East Brunswick schools. He saw that other workers dread their jobs and only look forward to their breaks.

He said that inspired him to choose a career he knew he would enjoy.

"If I had a choice, I would do something I'd like to do," he said.

After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a degree in communications in 1974, Burnett worked with different broadcasters in Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Los Angeles and Minnesota.

In 1985, Burnett went to Bristol, Conn., to work as an anchor for ESPN's "Sportscenter" as well as "The NBA Today."

"ESPN wasn't nearly as big then," he said, adding that it lacked coverage of Major League Baseball and football.

Burnett also co-anchored coverage of the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Canada, and Seoul, South Korea, for ESPN.

"It was a great steppingstone," he said. Burnett returned to Los Angeles in 1990 to work for Prime Ticket and started the first nightly regional sportscast. It was later sold, and it expanded and evolved into Fox Sports Net.

For nine years, Burnett covered the Lakers on TV and radio and witnessed three NBA championships. He has been with the Sparks for the past 11 seasons, and covered two WNBA championships.

Burnett described how a sportscaster has to be alert during a game.

"When you call play-by-play, it's all spontaneous," he said.

If an announcer knows a record is imminent, such as a baseball player's milestone home run, the broadcasters prepare themselves, but it is harder with unexpected happenings.

"You have to think on your toes and speak at the same time, and I like that challenge," Burnett said.

On June 22, Sparks rookie Candace Parker became the second WNBA player to dunk, in the fourth quarter of a game against the Indiana Fever. Burnett jubilantly called the play:

"Are we going to get a dunk here? Yes, she did it! She did it with 29.5 seconds left! Lisa Leslie did it first. Candace Parker did it second. The Sparks own the dunks in the WNBA."

Burnett also has some acting experience, including appearances in ABC's "The Practice" and CBS's "Time Bomb."

He lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife of 26 years, Barbara, and daughters, Katie, 24, and Jenna, 20. Burnett still has family in New Jersey, including a brother in Marlboro. His mother, Muriel, who taught in the East Brunswick schools for 42 years, recently moved to Vermont.

Burnett saw his career dreams come true and enjoys the fruits of his work.

"You grow up thinking about the highest level and when you're on the national stage you can see it broadcast worldwide," Burnett said of his career.

Burnett has an Internet Web site, www.larrybsports.com, as well as a blog on the Sparks Web site at www.wnba.com/ sparks/community/larrys_blog.html.