The Sports World Was Overflowing With Grief Following Craig Sager’s Passing

The NBA world lost a legend on Thursday when longtime broadcaster Craig Sager passed away after a long, public battle with leukemia at 65 years old. The public nature of his profession, and then his illness, as well as his universal acclaim around the sport, meant that he got to enjoy tons of honors and well-wishes while he was still alive, but that didn’t stop the emotions from flowing all over Twitter when the news finally broke.

Above is the touching, yet heart-wrenching video posted by Sager’s son, Craig Jr., upon the public announcement. For those who only knew him through the lens of basketball television, it’s both important and doubly sad to remember that all the lives he touched from afar pale in comparison to the ones whose lives he helped to shape — his family.

The pictures of Sager with his children are faded with the sepia tone of physical photos degraded by time, far removed from the bright colors of his signature suits. The memories we have of him may fade, but like the pictures, when we return to them, the distance will eventually make them sweeter. What follows is perhaps the smallest percentage of public tributes we’ve ever used for a reactions post like this, which only further illustrates Craig’s impact.

https://twitter.com/dekker/status/809498032861495297

https://twitter.com/seanoconnz/status/809496078462521344