Walton Listened to Chick Long Before the Wizard

It was love at first listen.

Bill Walton was about 10, tall and lanky and starting to learn how to play basketball. One evening he was flipping stations on his little transistor radio at his home in San Diego.

“I stumbled across Chick Hearn calling a Laker game, and after that I hardly ever missed a game, even though I sometimes had to hide the radio under my bed so my parents would think I was asleep,” Walton said.

“We didn’t have a television--my parents had no money back then--so I always had to listen to Chick on the radio. The love of the game of basketball he showed, the knowledge he had, the enthusiasm he had--and has to this day--is what made me fall in love with the game.

“Chick had a tremendous influence on my life.”

As much as John Wooden, his college coach at UCLA?

“Right up there,” Walton said. “Yes, that much influence.”

Walton as a youngster could dream of someday becoming a star basketball player. It was a longshot, but within the realm of possibility. He was tall for his age. But to think that he someday might also be a basketball announcer? That was the impossible dream.

That’s because Walton, although bright, stuttered. It was an affliction he didn’t overcome until he was 28.

These days, Walton, 43, like a kid with a new toy, rarely stops talking. And he makes a pretty good living talking basketball.

He will work Game 2 of the Laker-Houston playoff series on Saturday for NBC with play-by-play announcer Greg Gumbel, then he and Gumbel will move to San Antonio for Game 2 of the Spurs’ series with Phoenix on Sunday.

After a phone interview this week, Walton called back and left this message:

“I forgot to mention that I’m the luckiest man alive. I get Magic vs. Hakeem on Saturday, then Barkley vs. David Robinson on Sunday. This weekend is a dream come true. I truly am the luckiest man alive.”

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Hearn was a little surprised when he learned of Walton’s admiration for him.

“We’ve had some brief conversations pertaining to that, but I was unaware he felt so strongly,” Hearn said.

Told that Walton ranks him with Wooden among the people who have influenced his life, Hearn said, “Wow, that’s amazing. I’m glad you told me.

“I like Bill a lot. He has become a fine broadcaster. He not only talks fluently, but with authority. And he’s become a tremendous human being.”

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Hearn had just heard about the Sports Illustrated story chronicling Nick Van Exel’s fits of temper, particularly during his days at a junior college in Texas.

The story had provided plenty of fodder for talk radio on Thursday. It dominated Jim Rome’s show on XTRA.

“I haven’t read the story yet, but I’m going to,” Hearn said.

Told briefly of the contents--the gist of it was that Van Exel’s run-in with referee Ron Garretson was not surprising to many who know him--Hearn said, “Well, all I know is Nick has been cooperative and very good to me this season. He was a bit aloof before, but not this season.”

Hearn, however, is unsympathetic toward any player who has physical contact with an official.

Hearn, himself a college and high school referee for about eight years before becoming a broadcaster, believes the league needs to have tougher penalties.

“A suspension for the rest of the season wouldn’t be out of line,” Hearn said. “And I think you’re going to see the league adopt tougher penalties.

“I’m not singling out Nick [for forearming Garretson]. I’m talking generally about any player who hits an official.”

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Hearn, finishing his 36th season as the voice of the Lakers, has run his consecutive-games streak to 2,866. That means he will hit 3,000 sometime during the 1997-98 season.

Might he retire after that season? It’s doubtful. He says he would like to keep going as long as the enthusiasm is there.

Hearn, believed to be in his 80s, still has his moments, such as the one at the end of last Sunday’s season finale in Portland.

When the Trail Blazers’ James Robinson threw the ball away to ensure a victory for the Lakers, Hearn said, “James Robinson is biting his tongue right now. Oh, that must hurt when you bite your tongue that hard. And the coach is saying, ‘That’s OK, you just cost us the game.’ ”

TV-Radio Notes

NBC will cover the arrival of the Olympic torch in Los Angeles during halftime of Saturday’s Laker-Houston game. . . . ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” celebrates its 35th anniversary Sunday with a two-hour special at 3 p.m. Jim McKay, who was the host of the first show on April 29, 1961, and has been a part of the show ever since, will co-host Sunday’s show with Robin Roberts. . . . The Anaheim Piranhas’ first regular-season Arena Football League game tonight at 7:30 at San Jose will be televised by Prime Sports, with Tom Kelly and David Norrie reporting. KEZY-FM (95.9) provides radio coverage, with Kevin Turner and Mark Halda reporting.

Sparky Anderson’s debut as Prime Sports’ Angel commentator Monday was disappointing. Generally, Sparky lacked spark. You had to strain to even hear him. . . . The latest Arbitron ratings book shows XTRA is doing better than ever in Los Angeles, getting a 2.0 share in men 25-54 to place 21st in that category, where Jim Rome ranked 11th and Lee Hamilton 15th and XTRA finished ahead of KABC.

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Tuning In

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs April 20-21.

SATURDAY, April 20

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Event Ch. Rating NBA: Indiana-Chicago 4 4.5 Baseball: Detroit-Angels 9 3.5 World Gymnastics Championships 7 3.0 Olympic boxing trials 4 2.5 Golf: Heritage 2 2.3 Golf: PGA Seniors 4 1.5 Bowling at Sayville, N.Y. 7 1.4

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SUNDAY, April 21

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Event Ch. Rating NBA: Lakers-Portland 9 6.6 NBA: Phoenix-Houston 4 3.9 Gymnastics: U.S.-France 2 3.6 Golf: PGA Seniors 4 2.9 Figure skating exhibition 7 2.8 Golf: Heritage 2 2.3 NHL: N.Y. Rangers-Montreal 11 1.8

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