Lakers To Unveil Statue Of Announcer Chick Hearn Outside Staples Center- 4:30PM Today

A 16-foot bronze statue of late Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn will be unveiled today outside Staples Center.  The 5000 pound statue will be in front of the box office at Star Plaza on Chick Hearn Court (11th street).

The public ceremony will take place at 5:05 p.m. before the Lakers play Oklahoma City in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.  The ceremony is free to the public and will feature speeches by Chick’s widow, Marge Hearn and other friends of the icon.

The statue was created by Omri Amrany, the famed Israeli sculptor who also created the Magic Johnson sculpture that also sits in Star Plaza, Harry Caray at Wrigley Field in Chicago and Wilt Chamberlain at Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia among others.

Fans will be able to take photos sitting at the announcer’s table with Hearn, beginning on Wednesday.

The entire ceremony will be broadcast on Fox Sports West HD at 4:30 pm and will be emceed by Bill McDonald and Stu Lantz, Hearn’s broadcast partner from 1987 until his death in 2002.

HIMag’s Take:  This one’s in the refrigerator…