On Wednesday, Craig Sager underwent his third bone marrow transplant in a continued effort to treat an aggressive form of leukemia that he’s battled since 2014.
Before the transplant, however, Sager’s wife, Stacy, was asked the leave the hospital because of a cold doctors feared she might pass off to Craig. After hearing the news that Stacy couldn’t stay, Charles Barkley hopped on a flight from Phoenix to Houston to spend time with his long-time friend and co-worker at TNT, Craig.
“We go to see Sager to cheer him up and by the time you leave you’re like, ‘Is anything wrong with him?’ Barkley told the Associated Press. “He has the most positive attitude … When you go to try and cheer him up his attitude is so upbeat he cheers you up.”
What makes Barkley’s trip so endearing is that he just received a hip replacement less than a month ago, and flew out to see Craig against his doctor’s orders.
On Thursday morning, Sager’s son, Craig Jr., tweeted a photo of what appears to be a successful bone marrow transplant. Sager showed off the chest entry for his transplant with a huge smile on his face.
Everlasting thrill as he receives the donation through his chest!! What a proud moment!!! 💪#Incredible #SagerStrong pic.twitter.com/PuBdsxp3qA
— Craig Sager II (@CraigSagerJr) August 31, 2016
Barkley’s solidarity isn’t the first from the NBA community. Most recently, Carmelo Anthony sent off a message to Sager before Team USA played in the gold medal game at the Rio Olympics, and the whole team shared a special moment with the broadcaster after beating Nigeria in an exhibition game.
A third bone marrow transplant is awfully rare and the odds for a happy ending aren’t great, but at least Sager knows he has both his family and a huge NBA family supporting him through his clash with leukemia.
