ESPN’s _First Take_ honored Stacey King after the former Chicago Bulls forward and beloved broadcaster died unexpectedly this week.
The Chicago Bulls reported the devastating news Sunday afternoon. King [was just 59 years old](https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/stacey-king-chicago-bulls-broadcaster-dead-59.html), with the cause of death still unknown.
Monday morning on _First Take_, Stephen A. Smith, Jay Williams, and Chicago natives Shae Cornette and Michael Wilbon remembered what King meant to the city, the Bulls, and their fans.
“He was the nicest, coolest customer in the world,” Cornette said, noting how she viewed him as a larger-than-life figure. “And I’ll tell you this, going back home to Chicago and flipping on a Bulls game and hearing his voice just made me feel at home. ‘Give me the hot sauce!’ I could recount all his catchphrases, and it’s going to be hard to go home and watch a Bulls game without his voice on it this year.”
Jay Williams noted thinking about his own connection to the Bulls can be hard because it was in Chicago where his playing career was derailed by a motorcycle accident. But King was someone he was able to have those difficult conversations with.
“Stacey has always reached out to me on an emotional level,” Williams said. “And kept it real with me about, ‘don’t spend your time thinking on what could have been, spend your time focusing on what is, and the opportunity you’ve been given.’ Not a lot of people have the strength to talk to me that way.”
Wilbon, who is from Chicago and remains a Bulls fan, credited King for what he meant to the franchise as a player and broadcaster, even comparing him to what the late Harry Caray meant to the city as the longtime voice of the Cubs.
“There was a Harry Caray-like effect he had on the listenership,” said Wilbon. “Not just the city, but people who follow the Bulls. …We ain’t had a lot to cheer about the last five, six years. I turned on to watch Stacey. I wanted to hear Stacey King call the Bulls game.”
Wilbon also praised King for his ability to give honest assessments on broadcasts without ridiculing the Bulls too much during their down years, of which he was an analyst for many of those seasons in recent decades.
And just as everyone who knew King has noted in the past day, Stephen A. Smith similarly called him, “One of the nicest guys you could ever meet in your life. Really, really class personified, very, very passionate. Loved his job, and the fans loved him.” Smith noted there were times in recent years where he expressed concern for King’s health, but took the mentality that “God ain’t going to take him away from us too early because he give so much to so many people.”
King won three championships with the Bulls as a player alongside Michael Jordan in the ‘90s. He began working as a studio analyst in 2004, before joining the broadcast as a full-time analyst in 2007. King was known for his unmatched energy, passion and catchphrases that made him one of one as a broadcaster.