Craig Sager to miss Olympics as leukemia battle continues
Craig Sager will miss the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as he continues his fight with leukemia, NBC announced.
Sager has returned to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and is preparing for a third bone marrow transplant.
Although Rio would have been Sager’s fifth Olympics, the broadcaster plans to watch the games.
“I'll be watching it all,” he said. “It's sad that some of the biggest names in golf and basketball have withdrawn, but it's still the greatest spectacle. The greatest honor, the greatest thing in sports is to be an Olympian.”
Sager was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. He went into remission after a first bone marrow transplant but the disease returned in March 2015. He received a second transplant in 2015, and by March of 2016, he was no longer in remission.
• Craig Sager: Always on the bright side
Earlier in the year, Sager discussed his diagnosis in an interview with HBO Real Sports. He made it clear that receiving a medical prognosis of three to six months to live for a diagnosis of his type was for someone who is not undergoing treatment.
Last September, Sager recounted a visit to a doctor in which he targeted a return to the NBA sidelines and the 2016 Olympics. He accomplished his goal of being on the sidelines for the NBA postseason, and called his first-ever NBA Finals game.
Marv Albert and Doug Collins will call basketball for NBC at the Summer Games.
