Over the past two days, NBA sideline reporters joined together in a tribute to Sager, the best in the business, by wearing Sager-inspired attire to arenas around the country.

In April of 2014, Craig Sager was diagnosed with leukemia.

We’ve all been touched by cancer. I feel extremely fortunate to have my parents, who are healthy as can be after respectively beating breast and prostate cancer years ago. I can only imagine how Sager’s wife and five children felt when getting that awful news.

Hearing about Sager hit me because, like so many, I’ve so admired Craig’s work since I was a sports-loving teenager. I felt more of a connection to him when I got to Northwestern University, where he’d attended years earlier. Since I added sideline reporting duties for the Lakers prior to the 2011-12 season, I’ve paid even closer attention to what Craig does on and off the air during games. He is, after all, the best.

After missing most of the 2014-15 NBA season while battling the disease, the 64-year-old underwent extensive treatment and kicked the cancer into remission, returning to the sidelines for TNT last spring for a Bulls-Thunder game in his hometown of Chicago. Back were his attention to detail and humor, which he’s put on display for 28 years at Turner Sports.

In a revelation that would crush many people, Sager learned that the cancer had returned after being on the court for just one game. The diagnosis: he had two weeks to live.

But he didn’t give up.

Sager undertook an incredible challenge, going through chemotherapy for 14 consecutive days, 24 hours a day, an uber-aggressive treatment that isn’t approved by the FDA, according to a piece on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel". He survived, and received a second bone marrow transplant from his son, Craig Jr., last summer. He not only beat leukemia again, but made it back to our television sets at a Dec. 3, 2015 Spurs-Grizzlies game, much to the delight of coach Gregg Popovich.

Last month, Sager learned that he was no longer in remission. Doctors told him that a typical case would render just 3-6 months to live. But he won’t accept that, and refuses to give an inch. In fact, he’s still working, and will broadcast his final regular season game on April 7.

“We’re fighting this thing to the end,” he said on “Real Sports", talking about his wife and kids. “We’re going to win. I got too much to do. I want to hold (wife) Stacy in my arms forever. I want Casey to fulfill her dreams. I want to watch (Craig) Jr.’s impact on society. I want to walk Kristen down the aisle. I want to see Riley go to college. I want to see Ryan play in Wimbledon.”

As I was watching the piece, the reporter, Bernard Goldberg, told Sager that he and his colleagues were all pulling for Sager.

“That helps, it really does,” Sager answered. "You’d be surprised how important that is when you see people (say), ‘Hey, don’t give up, you’re strong, we’re fighting with you, we’re praying for you.’ I said, ‘Yeah! We’re gonna do it. We’re gonna do this together.’”

When I heard Sager say that, I wondered if he might appreciate seeing a sideline reporter rock a “Sager-esque” outfit, so I planned on wearing something to a Lakers game and relaying some support on the air.

Sager said on “Real Sports” that the outfits are just a part of his personality that make him feel like himself. To me, he's also utilized his fashion brilliantly to break the ice with the players, who inevitably appear more comfortable talking to Sager and giving him great content to report. I’ve always looked up to his ability to connect with his interview subjects, and I think the eccentric attire has played a nice supporting role with his excellent preparation, hard work and smarts.

Alas, I figured why not get the rest of the sideline reporters around the NBA involved? So I sent a group e-mail asking every reporter that had games on April 5th and 6th if they wanted to participate.

Within a few hours, I’d already heard back from most everybody, and each reporter was both enthusiastic and fantastic about putting outfits together, getting the photos out on social media with the #SidelineForSager hashtag we’d decided upon, and, in many cases, honoring Craig with a few words on the air. I may have circulated an idea, but it was the energy and effort from each reporter that collectively look up to Sager that actually got something moving.

I think our collective hope was simple: give Craig even a little bit of additional strength as he continues his courageous battle with cancer.