Chick Hearn

During his 42 year broadcasting career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Chick Hearn was known for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style incorporating colorful phrases such as toss up frozen ropes, air ball, no harm, no foul and coining the term slam dunk. Even more amazing is his streak for broadcasting over 3,000 consecutive Lakers games starting on November 21, 1965.

Born November 27, 1916, in Aurora, Illinois Hearn attended high school at Marmion Academy and college at Bradley University. It was at Bradley where he earned the nickname "Chick" when, as an AAU basketball player, he was handed a box of sneakers only to be surprised and find a chicken inside. In 1956, Hearn's broadcast career accelerated after he came to Los Angeles to announce football and basketball games for the University of Southern California. During the 1960's, he was broadcasting a nightly national sportscast on CBS radio (which earned him two Emmy Awards), when the Lakers, who had moved from Minneapolis in 1960, asked him to join their new broadcast team during the 1961 NBA playoffs. He was at the mike for every subsequent season.

Hearn's streak of 3,338 consecutive Lakers games, including all nine of the Lakers Championships, came to an end midway through the 2001-02 season when he underwent cardiac bypass surgery. Hearn recovered from his illness and resumed broadcasting that season, receiving a standing ovation from the Staples Center crowd upon his return. His final game was Game 4 of the 2002 NBA finals where the Lakers defeated the New Jersey Net to win their third consecutive NBA championship and ninth title.

Although best known for his work with the Lakers, Hearn has covered virtually every kind of sporting event, including championship boxing on FOX Sports West's "Fight Night at the Forum", NCAA football, the Rose Bowl, and even "Bowling for Dollars." Hearn has also done the play by play for other sports including the 1992 Summer Olympics.

On May 9, 1991 Hearn became the third broadcaster to be inducted into the Basketball hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts and received the Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award in 1992. In 1995 he was voted to be the 20th member of the American Sportscaster Hall of Fame by his fellow sportscasters.