Hearn Returns, but Only to Watch
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Chick Hearn pulled himself from a wheelchair an hour before Friday night’s game at Staples Center, wobbled down a short corridor and turned into the Laker locker room, where he was greeted with smiles and laughter.
“Now it’s time,” he said, “to come back and join the world again.”
More than three months after surgery to replace a heart valve, and five weeks since hip-replacement surgery, Hearn, the legendary broadcaster, returned to Staples Center, just to watch.
“I wanted to get the feel of the building again,” Hearn said. “I wanted to see the players, the coaches, the press. I wanted to hear the ball bouncing again. I’m excited about that.”
Hearn is scheduled to call his first game since Dec. 16 on April 9, when the Lakers play host to the Utah Jazz. His streak of 3,338 consecutive games broadcast ended on Dec. 20, when the Lakers played without him in Houston.
He has been in and out of the hospital twice since.
“Hey, Chickie, what’s up man?” Kobe Bryant shouted. “How you feeling?”
“Pretty good,” Hearn said, brightening. “I can still go to my left.”
“My man,” Bryant said.
And, as Hearn wondered about the recent Laker defense, a large hand covered his face from behind.
A voice, falsetto: “What’s my name? I’m a Laker girl.”
Hearn laughed and turned, and Shaquille O’Neal hugged him.
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Rasheed Wallace, Portland’s leading scorer and a matchup problem for the Lakers, did not make the trip. A lower back strain limited him to 11 minutes in Wednesday’s game against San Antonio, a game the Trail Blazers won.
“They obviously can win without him on the floor, that’s all I know,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “Their replacement is a $20-million player. So obviously, he’s a hell of a ballplayer in his own right.”
Shawn Kemp, in the fifth year of a seven-year, $107-million contract, actually won’t make that much until next year, when he is due $21.5 million. The year after, he’ll get $25 million.
Portland, playing to hold on to the fifth spot in the Western Conference, probably will rest Wallace at least one more game, tonight against Seattle.
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Since the 1994-95 season, the Trail Blazers are 22-15 against the Lakers. In the same period, however, the Lakers have won all of their four playoff series against Portland, last year in a three-game, first-round sweep.
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Tim Brown
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