Craig Sager drove 3.5 hours to San Antonio for Game 6 while in the middle of chemo

Not a person in the world would fault Craig Sager for taking it easy at work these days. In the midst of constant cancer treatments and facing a scary prognosis, the TNT sideline reporter could take off a game, a series or the rest of the season and no fan, player, colleague or boss would blink. But Sager says his job is what fulfills him, so he has gone to extreme lengths to work as much as he can.

Witness this tweet from Sager’s daughter, Kacy:

My dad is in the middle of 8 days of chemo, drove 3.5 hours from HOU to SA to work this game, driving back in the am. Absurd. #SagerStrong

— Kacy Sager (@THESagerbomb) May 11, 2016

Driving three and a half hours to a game, only to turn right around and head back the next morning is stressful enough. Plenty of beat writers complain about much less. But throw in chemotherapy treatment and this basically becomes superhuman.

There is absolutely no indignity in dealing with cancer at home and outside the public’s eye, and Sager is not necessarily more admirable for fighting the disease in public than someone who does so privately, but the more Sager does things like this the more he becomes an almost Lance-Armstrong-like symbol. It’s been incredible to watch how Sager has inspired NBA players, coaches, reporters and fans. Whether or not Sager is putting himself through such a ringer to maintain his work schedule because he likes his job or wants to make a difference for others fighting cancer and other diseases (or both), you have to assume he’s making a positive difference.

Basically, Craig Sager is a badass.