@thesportsontap: Tonight a broadcaster called an entire quarter of an NBA game by himself. The chair next to him was left empty on purpose. It was his idea. Here is who used to sit in it. Stacey King passed away in June at 59. He had been the voice of the Chicago Bulls for almost 21 years. He grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma, and went to Lawton High School there. His father James served 25 years in the Army, did two tours in Vietnam, and was given the Soldier's Medal for bravery. His mother Lois cared about one thing more than basketball. "I want him to be able to read a stop sign." She told Sports Illustrated that in 1988. When his grades slipped she made him write out his goals. He made the dean's list and majored in journalism. In Lawton, of the two King brothers, he was considered the shy one. He took Oklahoma to the national championship game in 1988. Chicago drafted him sixth overall and he won three championships there. Then two decades in the booth. Too big, too strong, too fast, too good. Mouse in the house. Gimme the hot sauce. But this is what the people who worked with him raise instead. After games he got security to let fans down to the floor for a photograph. He did it for people he had only met online. Adam Amin sat beside him for eight years. Here is what Amin said last December, six months before any of this. "He is a one of one." King was the sixth pick and he averaged six points a game. Measured against what a sixth pick is supposed to be, he was not it. Nobody in Chicago cares, and tonight is why. The Bulls opened the season in Toronto and lost by 43. No crowd on his side, nothing on the line by halftime. Amin called the first quarter alone anyway, with a crown and one of King's playing cards on the empty seat. "And it will be OK eventually." King used to sign off the same way every night. Drive home safely, Chicago. They play it in the United Center now, after the wins. #NBA #nbabasketball #hoops #bulls #chicagobulls

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Thursday 22 October 2026 04:21:27 GMT