Today, January 4th, is the three-year anniversary of Stuart Scott’s death. He is remembered for his fiery personality and, hip-hop style takes on football, basketball and life in general.
It’s been three years since legendary SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott passed.
Hard not to miss him.
(via: @espn) pic.twitter.com/JcErLF92sx
— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) January 4, 2018
Scott spent more than a decade with ESPN and later became an NBA commentator and announcer with ABC.
In 2007, Scott was diagnosed with appendix cancer and underwent an appendectomy. The cancer returned in 2011 and later again in 2013, eventually ending the beloved sports personality’s life in January 2015.
Scott is known around the entertainment world for his revolutionary approach to sports commentary. He began at ESPN in 1993 as one of the few African American commentators in the business.
His success was palpable, and helped relate to many younger black viewers at home. His ESPN colleague Jay Harris noted, “Well, that’s who Stuart is. He is ‘the other side of pillow,’ the man who made sportscasting cool. God bless whoever it was who thought to rearrange the bedding at ESPN.”
He wasn’t shy about bringing in hip-hop references and eccentric language to his daily commentary. He quickly became associated with popularizing catch phrases like “boo-yah,” and “hollah.”
Former ESPN President John Skipper noted that Scott “changed everything” in the sports entertainment world.
One of the most iconic and bittersweet moments of his career was toward the tail end, after he was awarded the Jimmy V Award during the 2014 ESPYs for his valiant battle with cancer.
“I [have] said, I’m not losing. I’m still here, I’m fighting. I’m not losing. But I gotta amend that. When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live,” he told a tearful audience in July 2014. “So live. Live. Fight like hell.”
Six months after Scott accepted his ESPY, he died at age 49. His presence is missed daily by his coworkers, family, and friends but he leaves behind an unforgettable legacy in the sports world and beyond.