J-Speaks: The Passing Of A Legendary Sports Sideline Reporter

His suits and ties were colorful and loud but the guy that rocked that wardrobe was one of the very best sideline reporters on the sidelines for the NBA for close to 40 decades for Turner Sports Broadcasting. This Batavia, IL native was one of the hardest workers of his profession and became the gold standard for getting answers from the very best of their sport and he gained the respect of his peers in the business and those that he worked with. More than anything, he projected an excitement and joy for what he did because at the end of the day, what he did was fun. On Thursday, this great broadcast journalist and inspiration left us.

Craig Sager, who back on Dec. 13 was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame passed away Friday afternoon after complications from leukemia in Atlanta, GA. He was 65 years old. He leaves behind his wife of 15 years Stacey and five children Craig Sager, Jr. from his first marriage, Kacy, Krista, Riley, and Ryan.

As the day went into the evening hours, statements from Turner Sports and the NBA community poured in as whoever could speak said how they felt about the Emmy Award-winning sideline fixture at Turner Sports broadcasts and whose public fight against cancer turned him into the greatest symbol of courage, where the rally cry that was dubbed Sager Strong.”

“Craig Sager was a beloved member of the Turner family for more than three decades and he has been a true inspiration to all of us,” Turner President David Levy, said in a statement yesterday. “There will never be another Craig Sager. His incredible talent, tireless work ethic and commitment to his craft took him all over the world covering sports.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver echoed those same feelings by saying, “While he will be remembered fondly for his colorful attire and the TNT sideline interviews he conducted with NBA coaches and players, it’s the determination, grace and will to live he displayed during his battle with cancer that will be his lasting impact. Our thoughts and prayers are with Craig wife, Stacy and the entire Sager family during this difficult time. We will forever be Sager Strong.”

Many NBA players either tweeted or expressed their feelings about the loss Sager.  

Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry before his team’s tilt versus the New York Knicks on TNT said of Sager, who was the Master of Ceremonies for the retirement party of his father and color analyst for the Hornets on FOX Sports Southeast Dell back in 2003 in Charlotte said that he was a guy that every time you saw him had no choice but to smile and laugh.

“He brought the best out of everybody he talked to. Just an unbelievable personality obviously and somebody that brought passion and life to everything that he put his hands on and you can tell that by the way he handled his job. How he handled his family and a guy who will truly be missed.”

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who missed the game against the defending Western Conference champions because of a bruised shoulder said to TNT’s Lewis Johnson that Sager changed the game and how he fought after being diagnosed should be an inspiration to a lot of people to never give up and to keep fighting.

“For me and everybody else puts a lot of things into perspective about just being appreciative of kind of being in the now and telling somebody you love them to think we just lost a good one.”

Anthony also said to Johnson that getting a visit from Sager before they went off to Rio to compete in the 2016 Beijing Olympics over the summer was uplifting and played a major role in Team USA garnering its third straight Gold Medal.

“I’m just happy that I was honored blessed to grace his presence when he was doing what he was doing,” Anthony said.

On Thursday and Friday night at NBA games across the country, many of the players during pregame warmups and many of the local team’s television analyst, pregame/postgame analyst and sideline reporters wore Sager Strong T-shirts of the Craig Sager Foundation that resembled the colorful outfit that Sager wore at the ESPY’s over the summer. On the front of the shirt was a pin that said Sager Strong and on the back of the shirt said, “Time is Simply How You Live Your Life,” with Sager’s signature on the back.

This brave and everchanging fight for Sager that he would take on for over two and half years began when he was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in Apr. 2014 and he took an 11-month leave of absence before returning to the sidelines.

While the cancer he was diagnosed with did return, Sager did resume getting treatment and continued to work as usual, doing his great sideline reporting for TNT doing playoff games.

Back in July, Sager underwent a third bone marrow surgery, which was never done before and during the 2016 NBA Playoffs, he between receiving treatment at a Houston, TX cancer center, MD Anderson Hospital, and his assignments in other NBA cities.

To most human beings, just being able to get through the day while dealing with what Sager was going through would be challenge that most would want to give up, but as he explained, “I’m optimistic and I never complain. It’s something you have to do, so why complain? I’m a gambler. I like to beat the odds.”

That was on full display when he received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at this year’s ESPY’s, which was presented to him by Vice President Joe Biden and Sager’s speech was one for the ages.

“Whatever I might of imagine a terminal diagnosis would do to my spirit, it summoned quite the opposite. The greatest appreciation for life itself,” he said. “Time is something that cannot be bought; it cannot be wagered with God, and it is not in endless supply. Time is simply how you live your life.”

That moment was on the heels of him working his first NBA Finals games as he collaborated with ESPN regular Doris Burke to work Game 6 of 2016 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs won that contest 115-101 on June 16 to tie the series 3-3.  

During his postgame interview, eventual Finals MVP LeBron James said to Sager, “How in the hell you go did you go 30-plus years without getting a Finals game. That don’t make no sense. I’m happy to see you man. Much love and respect.”

That might moment may not have been possible if Sager had not beaten the odds with not just beating cancer, but making it in a very hard business, which he began in 1972 when he began his broadcasting career in 1972 earning a weekly salary of $95 with WXLT in Sarasota, FL.

Two years later though, he would be a witness literally to Major League Baseball history as he stood at home plate in a white coat and holding a microphone as he waited to be the first to interview Henry “Hank” Aaron to circle the diamond after he broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 715. Sager was 22-years-old at the time.

Sager would work as a freelancer during the 1980 MLB playoffs and then in 1981 was hired by CNN, which started his great 35-year run for Turner-related companies.

The success behind his run at Turner, where he became well known for his sideline reporting during the NBA season covering the league for TNT was his ability to connect as well as report on a plethora of sporting events from the sidelines in baseball, basketball, college football, golf and tennis and it even extended into lesser known sports like World Cup soccer, skiing and curling for the Winter Olympics.

Sager even worked for NBC for the Summer Olympics starting back in 2000 in Sydney. He served as a reporter for the network’s coverage of the basketball at the 2008 games in Beijing.

Sager’s primary work with Turner Sports was with the NBA and TNT, where he worked the network’s coverage for 17 years as it’s ace sideline reporter working twice a week, but once over the past few years and increasing his work load during the league’s postseason very often going from one side of the country to the next jumping from one series to another.

Along the way, he gained respect from his Turner colleagues, past and present. Former colleague, who currently is a NBA color analyst for ESPN and Hall of Fame NBA and ABA head coach Hubie Brown said Sager, “was one of the hardest working people I’ve ever worked with. I’ve worked with everybody. He’d have these cards he used to write everything down in the meetings, things he thought were important. He’d find out the stories. Then he’d come by the table and drop a card to you during the game. What’s the big deal with that, you ask? That’s teamwork. Rather than keep the information for himself, he’d drop it for the TV guys so that you would have it to throw into the game. He’d never make a big deal of that.”

Another example of Sager’s willingness to make his colleagues he worked with better was the encouragement he gave to Kenny Smith early on in his time with TNT that he talked about in the pre-game show presented by Autotrader on Thursday night.

“He’s the reason why I’m here at TNT, because he’s the first person that actually looked at me and go ‘Kenny. Your pretty good at this,” Smith a two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets back in the 1990s said of the guy who he shared an office with for the first two and half years he was with the network.

“He’s listening to these conversations in our office and goes, ‘Why would you do that? Your pretty good at this. This could be your career. This might be the path that your supposed to be on. And here we are 20 years later, you don’t think about those words that way and how prophetic the could be and this was my path. Difficult today.”

What separated Sager from every other NBA sideline reporter was he just did not report on injuries that key players sustained during game action or just chat with the marquee players on the team that won during the postgame. He had the ability to ask hard questions to coaches during televised timeouts that breached the first and second quarters and third and fourth quarters. Sager also had the ability to interview players after tough losses, especially in the postseason, which is something three former NBA star players Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley of TNT and Tracy McGrady of ESPN said on Thursday.

“We lost a brother and a friend,” O’Neal said during the Autotrader pregame on Thursday. “What I loved about Craig is he always asked the right question. He’s very, very professional. In L.A., we had a lot of stuff going on, but he never touched on that. He always touched on the right question and he brought the best out of everybody. For me as a player at the end of game, if you got interviewed by Craig Sager, it means you did work. So whenever saw Craig, I made it a point to try to dominate that game so at the end, the last person he talked to on TNT in front of Kenny and Chuck [Charles Barkley] would be me.”

During a game break between the doubleheader on TNT on Thursday, Barkley used a line from William Wallace’s character from his favorite movie “Braveheart,” before he passes describing the legacy of Sager, “Everybody dies, but very few people live. I think that is a perfect way to describe Sager’s life. All of us are going to die, but very few of us live. Craig Sager lived a great life.”

Just a week ago, marked the 12-year anniversary of McGrady’s incredible 13-point output in the final 35 seconds of the Houston Rockets come from behind 81-80 win versus their Southwest Division and interstate rival the San Antonio Spurs. It was a TNT game and Sager was the sideline reporter for that contest.

“It’s a sad day man. This hurts,” McGrady said on Thursday’s edition of NBA: The Jump on ESPN, which is hosted by Rachel Nichols, who worked for Turner Sports as a sideline reporter for three years.

“Craig was one of those guys full of energy. As a guy that was interviewed by him so many times, there was never a time where I felt like I didn’t want to talk to Craig Sager. No matter what was going on. He just made me feel comfortable. He just made me feel like I want to have a conversation with him. He will truly be missed.”

Just about 10 years ago, the sideline reporters for the NBA on ESPN and TNT began doing sideline interviews with the coaches that breached the first and second quarters and third and fourth quarters. For some reporters, it was not easy, especially when dealing with Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich. The between quarters interviews between Sager and the Spurs’ head man on the bench was as ESPN’s John Anderson said, “First rate TV.”

One time, Popovich took Sager’s handkerchief from his jacket and wiped his face and nose with it.  

Another time Sager asked Popovich the key for his team getting back on track and he answered, “I think they were looking at your suit.”

While the answers might have been short, the respect has always been there. As Sager battled leukemia, it was Popovich that was the most poignant voices saying how much he is missed.

Back on Apr. 20, 2014, Craig, Jr. did a sideline interview with Popovich for NBA on TNT between the third and fourth periods of Game 1 of the 2014 NBA playoffs Round 1 versus the Dallas Mavericks to air a special get well message to Sager, Sr. 

The NBA on TNT crew in tribute to Sager wore similar attire in Sager’s honor.

“You did a great job, but I’d rather have your dad standing here,” the five-time NBA champion coach said to Sager’s first son in the interview. “We miss you. You’ve been an important part of us for a long time, doing a great job. We want your fanny back on the court. I promise I’ll be nice. Get back here.”

Sager did come back and as far as the nice part, yes and no.

When the two did meet again, Popovich said to Sager, “I got to honestly tell you this is the first time I’ve enjoyed doing this ridiculous interview we’re required to do and it’s because you’re here and back with us. Welcome back baby.

Sager said to him, “I laid in the hospital for months hoping to do this again.

After that moment, things went back to normal when Popovich said to Sager, “No ask me couple of inane questions.”

He was sideline reporter who while he was flashy with his attire was a great as they came in how he conducted his work. As a father and husband, he was as good as they come. He had a love for life and a respect for those he interviewed and those that were fans of the game. He earned the respect of those he worked with and those wanted to do what he did. He had a fighting spirit against a disease that would cut many at the knees and never get back up.  

Craig, Graham Sager, Sr. was a man who was great at his job, a wonderful family man and an inspiration to all of us, which is the main reason along with his great work everyone in the NBA family from the players to the coaches and many at other networks that cover the NBA expressed the love and respect for someone went through chemotherapy and then went to work to cover the best athletes in the world.

He also in his way taught us to embrace the moment, which is what Casey Stern did substituting for Ernie Johnson for NBA on TNT’s studio coverage on Thursday night, but did have a statement about the colleague he has known since 1989.

“Everything we do, he’s had a part in it,” Johnson said on Thursday. “Just his whole personality and the way he approached his work and the joy he got out of it. He never lost sight of the fact we’re lucky to do this.”

On top of that, Sager taught all of us when it is time to get down to business that we get out there and do it and do it well, which is what Brian Anderson, Reggie Miller and Dennis Scott did working the broadcast of the front end of TNT’s twin bill with the Chicago Bulls versus Milwaukee Bucks Thursday and what Marv Albert, Kevin McHale and Johnson did in the back end of the broadcast of the Knicks and Warriors.

In that back end of NBA on TNT’s doubleheader between the Knicks and Warriors, head coach and former colleague for 10 years Steve Kerr before tip-off addressed the Oracle Arena audience about Sager.

“We mourn his loss, but while we considered a moment of silence, we thought it would be more appropriate given the way Craig lived in life and the joy he brought to so many people to have a moment of joy instead,” Kerr said.

That moment was followed by a rousing applause, which is fitting to a man who had a well lived life that touched many from the players and coaches who were major figures in the sports he covered and the fans who saw him in person at games or on television.

Information and quotations are courtesy of 12/15/16 3:30 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN 2 with Rachel Nichols, Tracy McGrady and Brian Windhorst; 12/15/16 8 p.m. NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader with Casey Stern, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal; 12/15/16 8 p.m. game between the Chicago Bulls versus Milwaukee Bucks on TNT with Brian Anderson, Reggie Miller and Dennis Scott; 12/15/16 10:30 p.m. game between the New York Knicks versus Golden State Warriors with Marv Albert, Kevin McHale and Lewis Johnson; 12/15/16 www.nba.com article, “Known For His Versatility-And-Colorful Wardrobe-Craig Sager Had Natural Ability To Connect With People,” by Shaun Powell; www.nba.com/games/20161215/CHIMIL#/recap;  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Sager and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_McGrady.