Craig Sager has become basketball's fashion Liberace. A certified spoke suit All-Star. The TNT broadcaster had been strutting his stellar style on the NBA catwalk for the last 30 years, and his majestic wardrobe has made him a fashion icon.
“I feel more comfortable if it’s lively,” he said. “I don’t like to be dull.”
Sager loves to get funny with fabrics, handpicking the finest imported silks for his custom collaborations at Rex Fabrics in downtown Miami.
He is providing sideline commentary at AmericanAirlines Arena Thursday night, as the Miami Heat face off against the Indiana Pacers in the pivotal Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Sager claims to own more ties than Neiman Marcus. For his road trip through the Eastern Conference Finals, he packed 12 pairs of custom-dyed alligator, ostrich, eel, and leather shoes.
No, he's not the world's most interesting man, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution once surveyed the closet in his Georgia home, counting 137 suit jackets.
"I have more in another closet if you care to look," Sager said. The journalist politely declined his offer. He was tired of counting.
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Sager doesn't have a personal stylist – his outfits are of his own unique creation. The legend began many years ago with a trip to the Goodwill store in Fort Myers, Florida. Sager was searching for a sport coat for a resume tape, auditioning as a weatherman for a station in Tampa. He got the job, but they told him to ditch the suit.
Decades later, the legendary TNT broadcaster has the last laugh, and there’s even a website, CraigSagersSuits.Tumblr.com, dedicated to his eccentric wardrobe.
He is regarded by many as a fashion icon, something Sager still to this day refuses to believe.
Usually someone might tell him at a game, “I was going to wear that same thing,” he said.
“And I’ll go, no you weren’t, because I had it made, it’s one of a kind,” Sager said.
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