Chick Hearn calls his 2500th consecutive Lakers game
March 13, 1992 - Richfield Coliseum - Richfield, Ohio
For generations of Lakers fans, the one constant – aside from routine success – was once heard but not seen.
From the mid-60s until the early 2000s, the purple and gold soundtrack remained the same; the cadence unwavering, with the inimitable Francis Dayle ‘Chick' Hearn the constant on commentary.
Clear, concise and whippet-quick, Hearn was no-nonsense when the ball was in play, calling the likes of Baylor and West toiling, Kareem and Magic riffing and Kobe and Shaq waxing without interruption or inflation. The stars were the show, but ‘Chick' elevated them all to new heights, with audiences never at odds with which side Hearn was backing.
After bad weather stranded him in Arkansas way back in 1965, Hearn's consecutive game call streak would begin on November 21, 1965, and would only end on December 16, 2001, after 3,338 games.
The reason for Hearn's breaking his streak of 36 years without a day off?
Scheduled cardiac bypass surgery.
It's not hard to imagine where Hearn's two cents would have been stacked in this load-management era of professional basketball.
On this night, Hearn and the Lakers were in Cleveland, however, the former would have his parade rained on, with the Cavs closing the door on the La-La-landers in overtime, 109-107.
Following heart surgery, Hearn would eventually return for another decade and change, eventually hanging up his headset once and for all after the Lakers' 2002 championship parade, an event better remembered for Mark ‘Mad Dog' Madsen's mawkish dance moves.
Although Laker fans no longer have Hearn's preciseness to fall back on while watching the likes of LeBron and Anthony Davis, those that converge on Downtown LA can still pay homage to ‘Chick', with the legendary caller's statue standing outside of Crypto.com Arena.
