SAGER: THE MAN IN PLAID RETURNS

The NBA’s world regained one of its missing pieces on Thursday night. Craig Sager is back as TNT’s sideline reporter, again resplendent in wild plaid sport coats.

Sager, 63, was missed over the last 11 months as he battled leukemia. He’s a solid reporter who has had some interesting exchanges in his halftime interviews, notably with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. And Sager never fails to draw the viewer’s eye – while simultaneously shocking it – with his version of sartorial splendor.

Looking well physically and dressed for the job in a red, gray and black jacket that might, in another life, have been a kilt, Sager worked the sidelines of the Chicago Bulls’ home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nike came up with matching shoes for him.

You’ll be seeing him around again. He expects to work TNT’s NCAA basketball tournament games as well as the NBA and told the Associated Press he’s not much worse for the treatment he underwent, except that it has damaged his beloved golf game.

“I can’t say this has been any great revelation that turned me into a different person,” Sager said. “I’ve always appreciated my job. What I do appreciate more is the time I spend with my family. Now I don’t pay as much attention to how far it is to the green as much as the smell of the grass and the sound of the birds around me.”

Welcome back. It’s great to see you looking like, well, like you always did.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .