Making a Quick First Step Into Hall

It was Chick Hearn who carved out an unforgettable niche for James Worthy in Laker lore by dubbing him “Big Game James.”

And for 42 years behind the microphone on both radio and television, Hearn carved out his own unforgettable niche by serving several generations of Laker fans as teacher, entertainer, cheerleader and critic, using high drama, sharp humor and a glossary of innovative expressions that became known as Chickisms.

So it was only fitting that Hearn, who died last August at 85, and Worthy were elected together Monday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Joining the Laker pair in the class of 2003, to be enshrined Sept. 4-7, are Boston Celtic center Robert Parish; Earl Lloyd, the NBA’s first black player; Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon; Dino Meneghin, a four-time Olympian from Italy, and Louisiana Tech women’s Coach Leon Barmore.

Parish and Barmore were selected in their first year of eligibility.

Among those nominated but not elected were two Laker figures -- Bill Sharman, falling short in the coach category but already a Hall of Famer as a player, and current Laker assistant Tex Winter.

Among player nominees not elected were Clipper Coach Dennis Johnson, former Laker Adrian Dantley, Maurice Cheeks and Walter Davis.

The 42-year-old Worthy, now a broadcaster, is best remembered for his unstoppable charge to the basket and one-handed slams, the master of the fastbreak.

“He had tremendous quickness for someone his size,” said Sharman of the 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward. “A defender wouldn’t even take a step and James had already gotten by him because he was so fast.”

Named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, Worthy wore a Laker uniform for his entire 12-year career, his teams winning three titles in seven trips to the Finals.

The highlight for Worthy was the 1988 Finals against the Detroit Pistons. After his first career triple-double -- 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists -- in the Lakers’ Game 7 victory, Worthy was chosen Finals MVP.

It was a rare moment of personal acclaim for Worthy because, as fine a player as he was, he was still only third on the marquee of those 1980s teams behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“Out of everything that has happened to James,” Johnson said Monday, “this means more to him than anything else. Sometimes you want to realize you’ve done things on your own. Everybody said he played in my shadow, in Kareem’s shadow, in Michael [Jordan’s] shadow at North Carolina. But making it to the Hall of Fame, you can only do that on your own merits and by yourself.”

Yet, asked Monday for the defining moment of his career, Worthy said, “It would have to be getting the scholarship” to North Carolina.

Worthy led the Tar Heels to 1982 NCAA championship and was chosen MVP of the Final Four.

“I was overwhelmed with the possibility of going in with Chick,” Worthy said, “because he’s meant so much to the Laker organization and [because] he gave me my nickname.”

Hearn’s influence spread far beyond basketball. He coined the expression “slam dunk,” which is used in every facet of life, even by people who don’t know a moving screen from a movie screen.

In a career that included 3,338 consecutive broadcasts, Hearn also came up with such colorful phrases as “The game’s in the refrigerator,” “the mustard’s off the hot dog” and “faked him into the popcorn machine.”

“He was absolutely a Rembrandt with words,” said Memphis Grizzly President Jerry West, whose moves on the floor and in the front office were described by Hearn for four decades. “I have to laugh when they talk about a player’s legacy. When all is said and done, I don’t know anyone who has left a legacy like Chick has. Think of the different generations he’s affected. It’s just remarkable.”

Hearn didn’t limit his effect to the public eye.

Johnson remembers a moment in 1991, when he was about to open a news conference by telling the world he was HIV positive.

“When I walked in,” Johnson recalled, “[Hearn] put both his hands on my cheeks, pulled me to him, kissed my forehead and said, ‘You know what, young man, you are going to be around a long time. You are not going anywhere.’ ”

And now Hearn and Worthy and their fellow inductees are going to Springfield, where they will be around as long as there is a Hall of Fame.

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Times staff writer Tim Brown contributed to this story.