Craig Sager to report on Game 6 of NBA Finals, Gains Strength from Lacey Holsworth’s Story

Game 6 of the NBA Finals is Thursday night at 9pm ET on ESPN and as Spartan nation tunes in to see the return of Draymond Green there is going to be a familiar face on the sidelines reporting.

Craig Sager, the long time TNT broadcaster known for his flashy suits, will be reporting along side Doris Burke for the potential championship clinching game for Green and the Warriors. Michigan State fans are used to seeing Sager working the sidelines for the NCAA Tournament as the first round games are broadcast on Turner networks.

Sager, who was selected for the Jimmy Valvano Perseverance Award at this year’s ESPY’s, was recently on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt and SVP asked him about the trending hashtag #SagerStrong and where he gets his motivation from. Sager answered with a name that Spartan Nation is very familiar with.

“I would be laying in the hospital and I would think of the little girl named Lacey, who was friends with the Michigan State basketball team”, he said, speaking of Lacey Holsworth or “Princess Lacey”. Lacey was the 8 year old cancer patient who grew close to the Spartans and Adreian Payne before she passed in April of 2014. Sager had a chance to interview Lacey and her father Matt at “Coaches versus Cancer” a few years ago and said he looks to her and the strength that she showed at “such a young age.”

You can see the full interview below. Game 6 is Thursday June 15 at 9pm ET on ABC and the ESPY’s are July 13th at 8pm ET.

So glad that the two networks came together to give this man a chance to report his first NBA Finals, he totally deserves it. #SagerStrong love from all of us here at The Only Colors.