Rumors

Ernie Johnson spoke openly about his cancer diagnoses. He spoke about the tribulations of his son Michael, who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and died in 2021 at 33. He, Barkley and Smith were there to console O’Neal in 2020 after the death of Kobe Bryant, who was one of nine people aboard a helicopter flying to a basketball tournament in Newbury Park, Calif. Bryant’s daughter Gianna was on the helicopter with him. Johnson spoke eloquently at the funeral of Craig Sager, the brilliant sideline reporter for Turner’s NBA coverage, who died of leukemia in 2016. Wednesday, Johnson, now 70, spoke alone. “It’s just time,” he said, putting his “brothers,” as he put it, out front for praise. The long hours preparing for every show, along with his recovery from bypass surgery 14 months ago, told him he had to take some things off his plate. He will still do the NCAA basketball tournament for TNT and CBS and said he’ll lean into his production company, 32 Bowties, which will tell, as he put it, “feel-good” stories about sports.

New York Times

Bentley Americas and The SagerStrong Foundation, founded by the late NBA reporter Craig Sager and his wife Stacy, recently unveiled a collaborative project to benefit blood cancer research. As an homage to Craig Sager’s vibrant wardrobe the Bentley Mulliner team created a one-off Bentley Continental GT Speed convertible for a charity auction with bidding starting early next year.

journal.classiccars.com

Kendra Andrews: Steph Curry will be wearing special shoes tonight to honor the late Craig Sager. The shoes will be signed by Curry and auctioned off on Wednesday.

Twitter

Ryan Ward: Rick Carlisle on Craig Sager: “Craig Sager was a pioneer, an icon, a guy that was all about the greatness of the #NBA & living it every day. These 2 nights are a very deserved tribute to him. I’m proud to wear this jacket. This is actually Wesley Matthews’ jacket.” #Mavs

Twitter

KC Johnson: Fred Hoiberg on Craig Sager: “He was a great person.” Hoiberg honoring Sager with his shirt.

Twitter

Well, Lakers coach Luke Walton was one of the many across the NBA honoring late broadcaster Craig Sager, who passed away from leukemia in December 2016, by mimicking the Hall of Famer’s one-of-a-kind style. “I got more compliments on this jacket than any one I’ve worn,” Walton said before teasing another Sager-inspired jacket for Friday’s game versus Dallas.

NBA.com

Ryan Wolstat: Wow

Twitter

B/R Kicks: Sager Strong @Russell Westbrook pic.twitter.com/q49iU6dkJD

Twitter

Mark Berman: Dikembe Mutombo (@officialmutombo): "I am truly honored to receive the Sager Strong Award from @nba. I can only hope to live up to the reputation of Craig Sager who embodied strength, dignity, respect and of course great style. Thanks to my family for their continued support."

Twitter

NBA on TNT: Dikembe Mutombo will be the recipient of the 2018 Sager Strong Award at the #NBAAwards - June 25 on TNT.

Twitter

Craig Sager II: Nothing like getting served, pestered by Sherrifs & taken to court over a Will that myself and my sisters are not only 100% excluded from but do not even have any interest in contesting in the first place. Thanks Dad 👌

Twitter

Kacy Sager: I support @CraigSagerJr finally coming clean about some of the dumbassery we've been dealing with. Family is everything, and it's incredibly painful to know others are trying to erase you from it. Not gonna let it ruin our 2018 though :) Love you guys

Twitter

Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni and his wife Laurel, the Rockets and Spurs all donated $25,000 to the SagerStrong Foundation on Friday, one year since longtime NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager passed following a battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The D'Antonis made the donation in memory of Mike D'Antoni's father, Lewis, who passed away in October of leukemia. "Just the fight against leukemia and all the diseases, MD Anderson is very good at what they do," D'Antoni said. "My dad died of leukemia. It's a fight against something we are aware of. Whatever we can do, as little as it is. And Craig was a friend and meant a lot to the game of basketball."

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Rockets plan to honor Craig Sager tonight. Here are Pop's thoughts on Sager: "He wasn't just an iconic figure everybody saw on TV, his personality, his clothes and the whole deal. But that's just a small piece of him. We all knew him a lot more closely and intimately. So he'll always be in everybody's thoughts. When you have a friend like that that you lose, you don't forget those people. So at this time, teams are getting together and trying to do what we can to show the love that we all had for him."

ESPN