Curtis Brian - Living out loud: sports, cancer, and the things worth fighting for

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To my Stacy and my children Kacy, Craig, Krista, Riley, and Ryan. You have supported me, and I will fight to be there as long as I can to support you.

I have traveled the world, meeting thousands of people of all colors, creeds, and nationalities, some basketball fans, some not. I have sat with presidents and with Hall of Famers, played alongside the greatest in the game, and watched the next generation. I thought that I had lived life to the fullest. But then I got to know Craig.

His passion for basketball and for sports in general is unmatched. The guy just loves being at sporting events. Listen, if a guy was his schools mascot, you have to believe he has an undying passion for sports.

It was December 9, 1999, and I was home. After playing eight seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and four with the Phoenix Suns, I was returning to Philly as a member of the Houston Rockets to play my last game as a professional in the city that adopted me out of college in 1984. I had already announced prior to the season that this would be my last, and the 76ers front office invited my mother and grandmother to be there for my final game, complete with a pregame ceremony and recognition of my time in a Philadelphia uniform. At thirty-six, my physical health was simply not where it used to be, and my contributions on the court with the Rockets were diminishing.

It was late in the first quarter when the Sixers Tyrone Hill went up for a shot and all three-hundred-plus pounds of me rose off the floor to try to block the shot attempt. I didnt get the ball, came crashing down onto the hard court, and ruptured the tendon in my left knee. This was how my career was going to endbeing helped off the court in pain. As I was being wheeled off on a stretcher back to the locker room, a familiar face emerged next to me: Craig Sager.

The first time I met Craig was in the early 1980s, when I was playing basketball at Auburn University and Craig came down with a CNN crew before a big home game against the top-ranked UNLV Runnin Rebels. CNN, like Craig, was still emerging on the national scene, but hey, it was national. Flash-forward a few years to when I was playing for the 76ers in the National Basketball Association. I honestly cannot recall the first time he interviewed me after a game, but I can tell you how I felt: I have arrived. You see, Craig has been such a big part of the NBA that being interviewed by him meant that you were somebody. I remember I had the same feeling when Dick Vitale first interviewed me while I was at Auburn.

So Craig and I had a history when he approached me that night in Philadelphia as I lay writhing in pain. Turner was not broadcasting the game, but Craig was on-site to report on my homecoming.

How are you feeling, Charles?

What do you think you injured?

Do you believe you have played your last game?

The relentless reporter in him came first. Obviously, I couldnt know the answer to most of his questions. I couldnt even speak; I was in so much pain.

But then he shared something with me.

Here is David Levys phone number. He runs Turner. He has a job for you.

As it turns out, David had been watching the game, and as soon as he saw me go down with an injury, he called Craig and told him to have me call him.

It was an odd time for Craig to pass along the number, but as fate would have it, it changed my life. I had been in discussions with NBC Sports to join their broadcasting team after the season, but I did call David Levy, and the rest is history. Craig Sager impacted my life. But it would be another fifteen years before he changed my life.

In the years since our first meeting, Craig has become much more than a colleague; hes been a friend. A lifetime of memories has been built: the 1992 and 1996 Olympics; a Nike trip to Japan with other NBA stars; a visit to his son Craigs junior high school class (though when he picked me up in his Corvette on that rainy day, he had to put the top down for me to fit); and a threat from his mother. Coral and Al Sager lived in the Atlanta area, near the Turner studios. Craig decided to bring me to their house for a visit one evening and the conversation turned to his colorful wardrobe, which I thought he needed to tone down. His father agreed with me.

Listen, Charles Barkley, you dont come into my house and talk about my sons clothing, Coral threatened me. I couldnt tell if she was serious or joking.

When our good friend and colleague Ernie Johnson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2003 before missing work for treatment in 2006, it was a punch in the gut. Id never had anyone close to me suffer from cancer. Fortunately for E.J., they caught the disease early and he responded well to treatments.

So when I learned in April 2014 that Craig had leukemia, it was yet another gut punch, but until I fully understood the seriousness of his condition, I assumed that he would be right back on the air, just like Ernie. I recall visiting him in the hospital in Atlanta shortly after his diagnosis. I was in scrubs head to toe, mask over my mouth to prevent any small germs from infecting Craig. I didnt know what to expect when I walked in. You never know how someone will react to a terminal illness. But while I was there, Craig cheered me up. He made me laugh. He made me feel like he wasnt even sick.

The positive attitude with which he approached life and his work was still there. Even as his battle has grown tougher over the past two years, Craig has always been on the bright side, never wondering if he wont make it, but rather wondering how fast he can make it back.

Perhaps the best compliment that you can give a person is to tell them that they make you a better one. And that is true of Craig Sager. He motivates and inspires me to be a better man. He fights with grace and courage and humor, and never once have I heard him complain, despite some of the deep valleys he has fallen into. It has changed me in ways I couldnt have imagined. I think I am tough, but I am not Sager Strong. I dont complain as much after a visit with Craig. I marvel at how he can have such an awful disease but act as if every day is the best day of his life.

Craig has a huge advantage in his fight in that Stacy is his wife. I admire how she has been a true caretaker for more than two years while also raising two incredible children. Having a support system is critical for anyone facing adversity, and Craig has the best in Stacy, Riley, Ryan, Kacy, Craig, and Krista. His battle is his familys battle. Going through a battle with cancer is not easy, and perhaps even more difficult when you are a public figure. How is Craig doing? What is the latest on Craig? I read online today that he is back in the hospital; I am so sorry. When will Craig be back? Well-intentioned family, friends, and strangers all want answers in the grocery store, at the school drop-off, at a tennis match, in the mall, and even while walking the halls of a hospital.

I have been blessed with a lot of things in my lifefamily, fame, wealth, and the ability to do what I want when I want. Material things come and go, but true friendship lasts forever. I hope that Craig and I grow old together, and I hope that others will be as inspired by his story as I have been by his life.