WORRY STILL SURROUNDS HEARN'S CONDITION.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Chick Hearn, the longtime ``Voice of the Lakers,'' remained in critical condition Sunday, a day after he underwent brain surgery twice for head injuries from a fall at his San Fernando Valley home.

``There's no change. Chick is still in critical condition, recovering from two craniotomies,'' said Kate Preston, spokeswoman for Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where the 85-year-old Hearn was taken Friday night after the fall in his Encino back yard.

After the operations Saturday, his neurosurgeon, Dr. Asher Taban, said the broadcaster's prognosis was ``not good,'' and he said Hearn probably has called his last Lakers game.

``If he has a full recovery in terms of his motor functions, he will very likely have speech difficulty,'' Taban said.

Hearn remained sedated Sunday, and doctors were monitoring his condition. They didn't anticipate the need to perform any further surgeries but planned to test his neurological condition today, Preston said.

``He just needs to recover,'' she said.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in a printed statement that ``the hopes and prayers of the Buss family and the entire Laker family are for Chick and Marge and (granddaughter) Shannon. We know that we are only a few among the countless who love Chick and are praying for him now.''

Hearn, the only play-by-play announcer the Lakers have had since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season, fell on his Encino patio Friday and hit the back of his head.

Doctors found hemorrhaging in his skull and operated to drain it, but Saturday morning Hearn's condition began to deteriorate, and another blood clot was found, this one inside the brain. A second surgery was performed, ending Saturday afternoon.

The news that Hearn was seriously injured was a blow to Lakers players and Southern California fans for whom his ``words-eye view'' has been the soundtrack for 42 Los Angeles Lakers seasons, including nine NBA championships.

``The guy is one of the most remarkable men I've ever known,'' said Stu Lantz, Hearn's longtime broadcast partner, who was at the hospital. ``He's like a father to me. ... He needs all the prayers right now.''

Hearn is credited with adding such signature phrases as ``slam dunk'' and ``air ball'' to National Basketball Association lexicon. When a Lakers victory is imminent, he says, ``You can put this one in the refrigerator. The door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling.''

Colorful terms pepper his rapid-fire delivery: ``no harm, no foul,'' ``the mustard's off the hot dog,'' and ``faked him into the popcorn machine.''

Hearn called a record 3,338 consecutive Lakers games over 36 years until his streak was ended last season by a blocked aortic valve that required heart surgery. While recovering he fell and broke his hip.

Still, Hearn returned to the Lakers to broadcast the team's playoffs run and its third consecutive NBA championship, and he had planned to continue to broadcast through next season. He and his wife, Marge, expected to celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary Aug. 13.

Hearn is honored in the basketball Hall of Fame and has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In June he received a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for lifetime achievement. He told the audience that he didn't consider himself a cheerleader for the Lakers.