How many days off from work have you had since November 21, 1965? Were you alive? Were you in the same profession as you are now? As amazing as it may seem, that is the last date Chick Hearn missed a Laker game. Chick Hearn is the famous and renowned voice, who has called over 3,000 straight games, and does each game as if it were going to be his last. Hearn is an icon in his profession. Think about some of the terms you hear on an NBA broadcast: Slam Dunk, Air Ball, Dribble Drive, Finger Roll, Garbage Time, Give and Go, Matador Defense, No-look Pass, Picked his Pocket. Each of those terms was first used, by Chick Hearn. He is a revolutionary, having changed the terms used to describe the game.

During his long tenure, Chick has watched the game evolve from the below the rim game of yesterday, to the high above the rim game of today. He has watched the greatest players of all time: Jerry West, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Connie Hawkins, Gail Goodrich and James Worthy. He has been thrilled, he has been disappointed. Chick Hearn has seen nearly everything that can be seen on a basketball court. 38 years of experience will do that. It all started when he was doing sports in Los Angeles for a local television station. Soon, Laker owner Jack Kent Cooke asked Chick to announce Laker games and the rest is history. Famous Phoenix Suns voice Al McCoy said this of Hearn, "and I don't think there's any question that Chick blazed the trail for how to broadcast a professional basketball game. The rest of us kind of followed along in his footsteps because I think his style really epitomized the way a professional basketball game should be broadcast."

Chick Hearn is a great announcer, and a model for all young broadcasters.