FANS MOURN HEARN, LAKERS' 'SIXTH MAN'.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

In a salute fit for heroes, Los Angeles honored legendary basketball broadcaster Chick Hearn on Tuesday by tipping its hat, lowering its flags - and heaping hot dogs and Jell-O atop his Walk of Fame star.

Lakers fans, with unprecedented devotion to a sports announcer, mourned the loss of their beloved voice.

``It's a sad day, man,'' said Anthony Jackson, 44, of Los Angeles, one of hundreds of mourners standing around Hearn's Hollywood star overlaid by a shrine of flowers and candles that grew throughout the day.

``He was like a father to everybody ... I cried when I heard he died.''

Hearn died about 6:30 p.m. Monday after suffering head injuries in a fall three days earlier in the back yard of his Encino home. He was 85.

He had filled the airwaves with his play-by-play brilliance for 42 years - his final game June 12 to close the team's ``three-peat'' championship, although he had planned to work at least one more season.

Hearn called a record 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting in 1965. The streak ended in December 2001, when he underwent heart surgery. His absence stretched when he fell and broke a hip in February.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer who played for the Lakers for 14 seasons before retiring in 1989, told The Associated Press that Hearn ``was the sixth man on the team.''

``Chick was a unique broadcaster and a good friend, he will be truly missed,'' Abdul-Jabbar said.

Center Shaquille O'Neal, MVP of the NBA Finals, agreed.

``The voice of basketball will surely miss Chick's legendary style of sports journalism and his incredible wit,'' O'Neal told the AP.

Mayor James Hahn ordered that city flags be lowered to half-staff as the City Council adjourned in his memory. Naming a street in his honor was proposed.

``Hearn was a broadcasting legend,'' Hahn told the council. ``Listening to him at home and in our cars, he became a big part of our families and came to symbolize the spirit of Los Angeles''

``Surely, there will be a golden mike waiting for him,'' Councilwoman Janice Hahn added.

From the state's capital, 386 miles from Los Angeles, Gov. Gray Davis said Hearn was a ``state treasure'' who will be missed by Californians everywhere.

``His passing will leave a deep void in the hearts of sports fans in the Southland and throughout the nation,'' he said. ``Chick Hearn was the irreplaceable voice of an era.''

On Tuesday, tribute to the man who invented such phrases as ``slam- dunk,'' ``no harm, no foul'' and ``air ball'' rang from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.

National Public Radio paid homage to such Chickisms as ``This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O's jiggling.''

And commuters from the Ventura to the San Diego freeways recalled the folksy Hall-of-Fame voice via Bill Handel's KFI-AM (640) talk show to an hourlong segment on Larry Mantle's KPCC-FM (89.3) ``Airtalk.''

Throughout the day, Fox Sports KXTA-AM (1150) canceled regular programming for ``All Chick Radio'' to relive highlights from the ``iron man in the broadcast booth.''

Across the city, Lakers flags waved, Lakers T-shirts reigned and Hearn pressed close to every fan's heart.

``He brought basketball to this town,'' said Mike Fox, 21, of Woodland Hills, eating a Polish dog in Sherman Oaks. ``I don't think any voice resonates like Chick's does - he pulled it out of nowhere, out of the air.''

At Staples Center, an electric sign read ``Farewell to a Legend ... we love you Chick.'' Underneath it rested a small shrine, adorned with flowers and a stuffed animal.

Nowhere was Hearn's tribute more poignant than on the Hollywood Walk of Fame where, minus a headstone, fans paid their last respects with roses, candles, cards, tubs of Jell-O - and a hot dog slathered with mustard.

``Our hearts will always jiggle for you, Chick,'' read one tribute.

Hearn's Walk of Fame star, flanked by Sammy Kaye and Marie Wilson, was obliterated by the attention.

``Right there,'' announced Merrick Prudhomme, 44, of Garden Grove, placing a giant vase of lilacs. Then, bowing on one knee, Prudhomme spoke to Hearn's star.

``I just want to say, thanks for all the great meaning you have given us. We're going to miss you. I wanted to come personally and say goodbye.''

Prudhomme wiped away a tear, then walked slowly down the sidewalk.

Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Los Angeles resident Stuart Orenstein places memorabilia atop legendary Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) no caption (Chick Hearn)

(3) Flags citywide - from Hollywood to the LAPD's West Valley station in Reseda - were lowered to half-staff Tuesday, honoring the career of Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer