Mike Itagaki of the Los Angeles Times reports that legendary Lakers announcer Chick Hearn is in critical condition at a Northridge hospital Friday after he fell and hit his head in the backyard of his Encino home, officials said.

Los Angeles firefighters said Hearn, 85, sustained a head injury and was rushed to the operating room for surgery on bleeding in the brain caused by the 7 p.m. fall.

Kate Preston, a spokeswoman for Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said officials there would have more information at noon today.