John Ireland

John Alexander Ireland Jr. (born July 15, 1963) is an American sportscaster based in Southern California, who is currently the radio play-by-play voice announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early life Ireland was born in Newport Beach, California to Myrna and John Ireland and was raised in the neighborhood Corona del Mar, Newport Beach.

Radio career

Since 2011, Ireland has been employed as the radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Previously, Ireland hosted shows at XTRA-AM in San Diego, KLAC-AM in Los Angeles, and nationally on the Fox Sports Radio network. From 1997 to 2000, Mason and Ireland hosted a live TV/Radio simulcast on the Fox Sports West cable network.

Prior to being named the Lakers announcer, he did part-time play-by-play and sideline work for the Los Angeles Clippers, as well as UCLA football and basketball.

Television career

From 1995 through 2012, Ireland was employed as a sports anchor/reporter by KCBS/KCAL-TV, the Viacom-owned duopoly in Los Angeles. From 2002 to 2010, he worked as the sideline reporter for all Los Angeles Lakers broadcasts on KCAL-TV.

Previously, he worked as a sportscaster at KTVE-TV in Monroe, Louisiana; KBMT-TV in Beaumont, Texas; and KUSI-TV in San Diego, California. In San Diego, he won two Emmy awards for best sportscast. In high school, he was a member of the basketball team and wrote for Trident Magazine.

He received a bachelor's degree in history from UCLA in 1985, He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.