Stacey King, three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, dies at 59
Stacey King, a three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, who later spent two decades working as a studio host and color commentator on the team's television broadcast, has died at 59, the team announced Sunday.
"Stacey King was a cherished member of the Bulls family and one of the truly unique personalities in our organization's history," Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. "His connection to Chicago, the Bulls and our fans spanned more than three decades -- first as a player and later as the unmistakable voice that helped bring Bulls basketball into the homes of generations of fans. We will miss him deeply and remember the joy, energy, humor, candor, and passion he brought to our organization, our broadcasts, and our fans every day. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones."
We are devastated by the passing of 3x NBA Champion and beloved broadcaster Stacey King. pic.twitter.com/NSyeopd880
An Oklahoma native, the 6-foot-11 King played college basketball at the University of Oklahoma from 1985-89. He helped the Sooners reach the NCAA national championship game in 1988, when they lost to Danny Manning and Kansas, and was named the Big 8 Player of the Year, a consensus First Team All-American and the Sporting News Player of the Year in 1989. As a senior, he averaged 26 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game on 52.3% shooting.
The Bulls selected King with the No. 6 overall pick in the 1989 Draft, and he joined a team that was coming off a loss to the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. King appeared in all 82 games as a rookie, and was named to the 1990 All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds off the bench.
While King never lived up to the hype from his stellar college career or became a full-time starter with the Bulls, he was a part of their rotation throughout their first three-peat from 1991-93.
King's most memorable moment with the franchise, which foreshadowed his broadcasting prowess, came after Michael Jordan scored a career-high 69 points during a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in King's rookie season. "I'll always remember this as the night that Michael Jordan and I combined to score 70 points," King joked at the time.
At the trade deadline in 1994, during Jordan's first retirement, the Bulls traded King to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Luc Longley and a second-round pick. King stayed with the Timberwolves until 1995, then played one season with the Miami Heat before appearing in a handful of games with the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks during the 1996-97 season.
"If I would've gotten drafted by, say, the Clippers, I probably would've been an All-Star, scored a lot of points and never won anything," King told ESPN in 2011. "And I probably would've been frustrated because I love to win more than anything."
After his NBA days, King played overseas in Turkey and Argentina, and also had a brief stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce -- now the G League affiliate of the Miami Heat -- who were then a part of the Continental Basketball Association. King later coached the Rockford Lightning -- another CBA team -- and the Skyforce before joining the broadcast ranks in 2006.
King was initially a studio analyst before becoming a color commentator. He worked alongside former Bulls legend Johnny "Red" Kerr, Tom Dore, Neil Funk and Adam Amin. King's good nature and humor made him a fan favorite in Chicago and earned him accolades across the NBA.
"Basically, in a nutshell, I kind of say things a fan would say on the couch watching the Bulls game," King told ESPN. "There's a lot of energy, a lot of fun and some spontaneity trying to capture the moment. There have been a lot of great moments this year; it really has been a lot of fun for me. When you've got a good team playing great basketball, it makes your job a lot easier.
"All my stuff is instinctive. I don't write it down and say, 'Let me say that.' It's fun and the fans get a kick out of it, but I take my job seriously as an analyst. That's what I do before anything."