Craig Sager: The Man Behind the Gnarly Suit

Esquire has profiled the NBA's sartorial counter-conscience, Craig Sager. It's a decent read because it delves into the motivations of a man who draws attention to himself while only focusing on others. We've always been curious about Sager, we just never really knew it.

Craig Sager, in the piece:

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I grew up in Batavia, Illinois, a small town out in the corn fields, west of Chicago. It was boring. For our senior picture, they said, "black or navy blazer." And I thought, Why do I want to look like everybody else? I was a big fan of The Monkees, and I had this electric blue nehru jacket, like one Micky would wear. So I wore that and showed up and they said, "We told you: a blue or black sportcoat." I argued that it was actually blue, created a little controversy. But, now, you look at the yearbook and everyone looks exactly the same. Except for me.

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The strategy has paid off, and has gotten Sager noticed, but make no mistake: The man's a pro. I was struck by his television skill when I worked for the NBA during the 2009 draft. Self assured, Craig Sager weaved his way through every scrum, confidently wrangling confused rookies into their first live TV interviews. He understands his job in the moments we're caught up in. Check out this clip of LeBron's shocking buzzer beater versus Orlando in the 2009 playoffs. At the 32 second mark, you can spot everyone going nuts, save for Craig, who's rushing to his interview subject: