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Craig Sager is the Ultimate Warrior

By Niccolo Hilgendorf

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 13: Honoree Craig Sager accepts the Jimmy V Award for Perserverance onstage during the 2016 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 13: Honoree Craig Sager accepts the Jimmy V Award for Perserverance onstage during the 2016 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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Craig Sager remains optimistic after bone marrow and stem cell transplants.

Yesterday, Craig Sager added the latest chapter to his heroic battle against leukemia by undergoing a third bone-marrow and stem cell transplant. Since 2014, the 65-year-old TNT sportscaster has battled acute myeloid leukemia. However, he remains hopeful and optimistic despite the knowledge that the odds are heavily stacked against him.

“I’ve bet on a lot of things with a lot higher odds than this,” Sager said to the Associated Press.

Sager underwent the transplant — a 10-hour ordeal and the latest in nearly 100 such procedures he has gone through — at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He hopes to be back on the sidelines in November.

“I’ve had every chemo in the alphabet, most of them more than once,” Sager said. “Some of them that aren’t even in the alphabet, they’re just numbers — clinical trials. But I bet if you added all those up it would have to be like 60- or 70-something. I’ve had 23 bone marrow aspirations. Having one isn’t fun and I’ve had 23. So that’s been tough.”

“Tough” is certainly an understatement. Sager’s fight against cancer has been an absolute rollercoaster ride. After a first bone-marrow transplant and a period of remission, Sager announced that the cancer had returned in March, 2015. Four months later, following a second transplant, he was able to make his return to the sidelines for the first game of the 2015-16 NBA season. But now, he finds himself in a hospital bed once again, awaiting the outcome of a third rare transplant.

Sager’s unwavering determination to fight until the end and his ever-positive attitude in the face of adversity are an inspiration to us all. He is genuine to the core. His bright, wildly patterned suits are not just a get-up or an accessory to a TV personality — they are a reflection of a man who is the embodiment of hope an enthusiasm, a man who loves life and is determined to continue living it as long as possible, no matter the struggle.

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