Charles Barkley visited Craig Sager in hospital despite doctor’s orders

Don’t tell Charles Barkley what he can and can’t do. As The Associated Press reported in their story on Craig Sager’s third bone marrow transplant this week, after Barkley learned that Sager’s wife Stacy couldn’t attend the transplant thanks to a cold, he defied his own doctor’s orders to be at the bedside of his NBA on TNT colleague:

A few days before his transplant, Stacy came down with a bad cold and doctors sent her home, fearful she’d transmit her illness to her husband. Hall of Famer and TNT colleague Charles Barkley heard she couldn’t be there for a couple of days and hopped on a plane from Phoenix.

However, Sir Charles had hip replacement surgery less than a month ago and wasn’t cleared to travel. He said his doctor was livid when he learned Barkley had defied orders and flown halfway across the country. Barkley informed the doctor that it was an emergency.

“Craig Sager is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met,” Barkley said. “We go to see Sager to cheer him up and by the time you leave you’re like, ‘Is anything wrong with him?’ He has the most positive attitude … When you go to try and cheer him up his attitude is so upbeat he cheers you up.”

Doctor’s orders are usually there for a reason, so this is a risky move by Barkley, but it shows how much he cares about his colleague, and it appears to have worked out fine. That positive attitude from Sager has definitely been on display, too. Here’s what he told the AP about his plans to return to TNT’s broadcasts:

Sager’s also bolstered by his drive to be back on the sideline for the NBA season. He doesn’t expect to have recovered from the transplant in time for the season-opener on Oct. 25, but aims to return by early November for more of gentle sparring with the likes of San Antonio Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich .

It would be a victory not just for him, but for all the people his fight has inspired.

“It means that you’re surviving and you’re winning,” he said. “That you’re knocking down obstacles and clearing hurdles that are put in front of you and you’re doing them with flying colors.”

Here’s wishing Sager all the best in his recovery from this transplant and in his ongoing battle with leukemia. Hopefully he and Barkley will be on NBA on TNT telecasts together again soon.

[For The Win]