of Sager Strong Award. It is presented to "an individual who has been a trailblazer while exemplifying courage, faith, compassion and grace." Monty Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, and Robin Roberts were the three winners from 2017 to 2019. Illness and death In April 2014, Sager was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and he subsequently missed the entire 2014 NBA playoffs. His son, Craig II, was deemed a match for bone marrow transplant, and Sager underwent the treatment, pushing his cancer into remission. On April 20, 2014, Craig II did a sideline interview with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich between the third and fourth quarters of the 2014 NBA playoffs' first round against the Dallas Mavericks to air a special get-well message to Craig Sager. The NBA on TNT crew did a special tribute to Sager as well, wearing suits similar to those Sager had worn in the past. That same day, during the between-quarters interview segments, all coaches gave get-well messages to Sager. In late March 2015, Sager announced that his leukemia had returned. It was also announced that doctors had told him that he had three to six months to live without treatment. Sager ultimately endured the process for a third time through the gift of marrow from an anonymous donor. Sager died on December 15, 2016, at the age of 65. He was memorialized during that evening's broadcast of a game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Chicago Bulls on the Inside the NBA pregame show, with players of each team wearing tribute T-shirts during warmups designed to look like one of Sager's signature gaudy suits. Sager was lauded for his expertise and courage by his friendly nemesis, head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, in a statement before the Spurs' December 15 game. Popovich told the assembled media: On December 27, 2016, Northwestern University, Sager's alma mater, announced its football team would wear stickers on their helmets in honor of Sager in the Pinstripe Bowl game against Pittsburgh. On July 13, 2017, NBA Hall of Famer Dan Issel served as speaker at an event at Batavia High School's gymnasium to honor Sager. Sager and Issel were friends and basketball teammates at Batavia High School, when Sager was a freshman and Issel a senior. "To see him have the success he had on the national level was so gratifying to all of us," said Issel. Personal