The NBA community lost a broadcasting legend Thursday, and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich gave his emotional thoughts on the passing of his friend Craig Sager.
On Thursday, the NBA community and sports world at large mourned the loss of an amazing sideline reporter, cancer fighter and overall human being in Craig Sager. After a long battle with the illness, the legendary broadcaster for Inside The NBA on TNT passed away at age 65.
Leave it to the man who was notorious for giving Sages a hard time during his sideline reports to perfectly encapsulate the way everyone was feeling on such a somber day.
Prior to the San Antonio Spurs‘ road game against the Phoenix Suns Thursday night, head coach Gregg Popovich addressed the media scrum.
Before anyone could ask any questions, he addressed the topic that was on everyone’s minds — the loss of such a loving, positive and unforgettable NBA reporter.
Pop’s one-sided media session wasn’t as brief as it was because he felt like being dry or curt, as he often is with reporters. It wasn’t because the Suns were a lowly opponent not formidable enough to warrant actual game questions, or because the Spurs were tired from playing the second game of a back-to-back.
It was because the death of Sager had shaken him as much as any one of us. Yet somehow, he managed to deliver the articulate, heart-felt sentiments most of the basketball world felt deep down, but had not been able to put into words:
Popovich didn’t wait to be asked the questions he knew was coming. Unprompted, he dove right into it.
"“I guess on a day like this, basketball has to take a back seat as we all think about somebody who was very unique, very special,” he said. “Whether you really knew Craig or not, you got the feeling that he was a special person in a lot of different ways. And right now I just feel for his family.”"
After years of dry humor and short responses at the expense of his friend, Pop giving Sager a hard time during those nationally televised broadcasts became a regularly awaited spectacle by the people at home and NBA Twitter in general.
On the day of Sager’s passing, they were an entire community’s coping mechanism. They were an avenue for remembering Sager as the good-natured person that he was, somehow never flustered by the teasing and sarcastic responses from other players and Pop in particular — a special bond between coach and reporter that would have made lesser journalists flinch.
"“To talk about him being a professional or good at what he did is just a tremendous understatement,” Popovich said. “All of us who knew him understood that fact, what he was all about as far as work was concerned, but he was a way better person than he was a worker, even though he was amazing in that regard.“He loved people, he enjoyed pregame, during games, postgame — he loved all the people around it and everybody felt that.”"
Everyone knew Popovich giving Sager a hard time wasn’t actually serious. If anything, it was out of respect for him — it’s not easy to interview someone as testy as Pop and not only keep coming back for more, but to do so with that same vintage smile on his face every time.
When Sager returned to the sidelines for his first game back in late 2015, the two shared another unforgettable moment:
Craig Sager interviews Coach Pop during the break. https://t.co/F8pvWnc4U1
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 4, 2015
The look on his face when he received a standing ovation at his first game earlier in 2015 after yet another procedure, this time in Chicago, saw him beaming as brightly as the preposterous, multi-colored, multi-patterned suits that somehow went from cringeworthy to vintage Craig Sager.
It was a constant theme throughout his fight with cancer since he was originally diagnosed in 2014: Sager’s enthusiasm for his job was echoed throughout his battle for his own life.
We are forever #SagerStrong pic.twitter.com/t9C3x6znkb
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 15, 2016
The outpouring of support during his fight was overwhelmingly positive.
He got to cover the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly 20 years of covering professional basketball in 2016, thanks to some cooperation from Turner Sports and ESPN. He received a standing ovation at Quicken Loans Arena in Game 6 of the Finals, and was even inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame two days before his death.
And yet somehow with all those external displays of support, it was Sager who gave the rest of us the greatest gift in return. His return to work after (and during) so many operations and sessions of chemotherapy was a constant source of inspiration that gave so many others the strength to carry on their fight as well.
"“The most amazing part of him is his courage,” Pop said. “What he’s endured, and the fight that he’s put up, the courage that he’s displayed during this situation is beyond my comprehension. And if any of us can display half the courage he has to stay on this planet, to live every [day] as if it’s his last, we’d be well off. We all miss him very much.”"
To see a man like Pop — who, even in jest, gave Sager such a hard time in those classic sideline exchanges — so forlorn by his passing not only sheds light on the kind of man Craig Sager was, but the lasting impact he leaves on his friends and family, the fans who regularly watched him on TV, and those still battling cancer who have him as an amazing example of what it really means to live a healthy life.
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Craig Sager is gone, but like Stuart Scott, Jim Valvano and so many other cancer victims who left us too soon, he will continue to inspire others with his story long after today. Heaven just got a lot more colorful.