National Basketball Association

Watch: Steve Kerr leads pregame 'moment of joy' for Craig Sager

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:47 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr offered some touching words about the late Craig Sager ahead of Thursday’s game against the Knicks.

Kerr, who once worked alongside Sager at TNT, took the microphone at midcourt and remembered Sager, who died on Thursday at age 65 after a long battle with leukemia. The Warriors–Knicks game was broadcast as the second part of TNT’s doubleheader.

Rather than a moment of silence, Kerr and the teams chose to instead have a “moment of joy” to remember Sager’s life, leading to a long ovation from all present at Oracle Arena.

Watch the moment below.

Sager, an iconic reporter, was beloved across the NBA by players, fans and colleagues alike. Known for his affable personality, constant professionalism and vibrant wardrobe, Sager was a fixture on the sidelines and on TNT’s broadcasts. Players, teams and other figures around the league were outspoken as they remembered him on social media.

SI's Lee Jenkins wrote about Sager in a cover story earlier this year in the May 2, 2016 issue of Sports Illustrated. You can read Jenkins's full story on Sager's defiantly optimistic battle with cancer on The Crossover.