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Craig Sager's TNT colleagues pay tribute to their friend
The death of Craig Sager has inspired tributes from around the sports world — from athletes, coaches, fellow journalists, and plenty who only knew the Turner Sports reporter from his appearances on TV. Yet it stood to reason that the most powerful remembrances would come from Sager’s colleagues and friends.
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TNT’s “Inside the NBA” crew offered those tributes on Thursday night ahead of the network’s primetime doubleheader. After a brief introduction from anchor Casey Stern, TNT played this tribute video with narration from Ernie Johnson (Johnson was off work on Thursday to care for a sick family member):
Stern, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal then offered reflections on Sager’s impact on their lives and careers and what he means to them:
The tribute did not stop there. Announcers Brian Anderson, Reggie Miller, and Dennis Scott introduced the broadcast of their game between the MIlwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls by speaking about Sager, too:
Brian Anderson, @ReggieMillerTNT and @3Deezy remember Craig Sager before the game #SagerStrong https://t.co/DCpakEIydR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 16, 2016
Those thoughts extended into the first few minutes of the game itself, with the trio of announcers essentially forgetting there was a game in front of them until after the first commercial break. Additionally, Scott used the first between-quarters interview to ask head coaches Jason Kidd and Fred Hoiberg about their relationships with Sager.
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Turner announcers and commentators Marv Albert, Grant Hill, and Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber also paid tribute to Sager earlier in the day.
The tributes crossed network lines, too. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, a Turner reporter from 2013 until the spring of 2016, spent “the entirety of her show “The Jump” talking about her friend:
It’s safe to assume that reflections on Sager’s life and work will continue for at least the next few days. All NBA teams will observe a moment of silence before games on Thursday and Friday, and figures such as Gregg Popovich have offered extended thoughts on Sager during interviews with media.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
