[Biblebelter]

The thing that made Chick great was that he respected his audience. I am sure that he had an ego, but his priority was to make listening and watching the game an enjoyable and entertaining experience, not trying to prove how smart he was by being hypercritical of players, coaches, and officials. I never was a Laker fan, but I watched a lot of Laker games simply because Chick made the game so entertaining. He will be missed.

[kellynla]

Well I can tell you from my personal knowledge and experience with Chick Hearn, that he was about as humble a person as you will ever find. He didn't have an egotistical bone in his body. A true gentleman. He made professional basketball what it is today. When the Lakers came to LA in 1960 and hired Chick Hearn, Los Angeles much less the USA, didn't know what or care anything about professional basketball and Chick Hearn went around the city personally selling tickets to Laker games. Attendance to Laker games increased dramatically due to the announcing of the games by Chick Hearn. He was the ambassador of professional basketball and no one did more to promote professional basketball than Chick Hearn. He was the best! PERIOD!