LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Veteran Los Angeles Lakers broacaster Chick Hearn, who underwent heart surgery in December and was to return to work on March 1, broke his hip Sunday and is slated to undergo surgery Tuesday.
It is not known at this time whether Hearn will be ready to return for the Lakers' game against the Indiana Pacers, team spokesman John Black said.
Hearn, 85, slipped while exiting his car at a gas station on Sunday night and broke the femoral neck of his hip. Dr. Herbert Huddleston of Valley Presbyterian Hospital will perform the
two-hour surgery to replace the ball that fits into the joint.
Hearn's streak of broadcasting 3,338 games over 36 years ended when he missed a contest against the Houston Rockets on Dec. 20. A day earlier, the Hall of Fame broadcaster underwent a
procedure to correct a condition known as aortic stenosis at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
Los Angeles-area broadcaster Paul Sunderland has filled in for Hearn.
In his 42nd year behind the microphone, Hearn became just the third broadcaster inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. His remarkable streak of Lakers' games began on Nov. 20, 1965.
Hearn has been a part of eight championships. Some of the Lakers stars whose games he has described are Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
