The past couple days have been a sad few for a diehard basketball fan like myself. Craig Sager, a seasoned NBA sideline reporter for over 30 years, passed on December 15th, 2016. This loss shook anybody and everybody that not only knew him personally, but also those such as myself whom he acted as our portal into the NBA and sports landscape. Craig Sager offered a different view into sideline reporting, as he remained a true individual throughout his lengthy career. You probably remember him for the colorful suits, but when it really comes down to it that’s really one of the least impactful things about him. Sager embodied the passion and love for sports that so many people across the world feel overwhelmed by on a daily basis. The only difference was that Sager, who was on the sports world’s highest landscape, was able to remain true to himself and be a kind, happy soul to the very end. Throughout all the turmoil of working in the highly competitive sports journalism industry, one where almost anybody would stab you in the back for personal gain, Craig Sager made it a point to treat others with nothing but respect and a positive attitude. Sager more than left his mark on sports journalism as a whole. He taught people how to not only remain yourself, but to be positive throughout the face of adversity. If you have been close to anybody who has experienced chemotherapy, you know that it does all but drains the life out of you. With Sager, however, it seemed to be the exact opposite. Sager was given a new lease on life every time he went through one of his 3 bone marrow transplants, and made sure that his illness never got in the way of his passions. He made sure to cherish his time with family as much as he could, all the while fighting his illness to the very end. One of the best things about the last few years of Sager’s life was the fact that he was allowed to touch so many more lives than he previously had. He became the face of cancer in team sports, and gave many people facing similar odds a sense of hope that they weren’t alone. He was glorified to the point where Turner Sports, his broadcasting company, had reached an agreement with ESPN to allow Sager to be a sideline reporter for his first career NBA Finals game. You could tell this meant a great deal to Craig, who seemed to light up on TV while interviewing LeBron James during a defining moment in his career. Sager also went on to receive the 2016 ESPY’s Jimmy V Perseverance award. The speech he gave was monumental, and will go down as a signifying moment of how Sager lived his life: “I will continue to keep fighting, sucking the marrow out of life, as life sucks the marrow out of me.”
The resilience he showed by flying out to receive chemotherapy every morning and then fly to cover a game that night in a different city is something that teaches us all a lesson. And by continuing to do what he loved so very much, Craig Sager instilled a sense of urgency in sports fans to cherish the time they do have, and to live every day as if it is our last.
