Stacey King: A voice who made Chicago Bulls basketball tolerable

Sunday was a very sad day for many Chicago Bulls fans. The Bulls analyst Stacey King tragically passed away at the age of 59.

King starred for the Oklahoma Sooners in the 1980s. He helped lead Oklahoma to the national championship game in 1987-1988. The Chicago Bulls made King the No. 6 overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, and he went on to win three NBA championships with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during their first three-peat.

While his playing career didn’t match his draft position, that never defined him. He later became a successful broadcaster who is connected to the glory of the past, while having the tough task of watching the present Bulls basketball.

Chicago didn’t remember him for what he wasn’t. Instead, they will remember him for who he became later.

After the dynasty ended, the Bulls didn’t just decline — they collapsed. The post‑Jordan years were brutal. The rebuilds were endless. The basketball was often unwatchable. Instead, they have become irrelevant. Even worse, the franchise did not seem to care at all under owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

And yet, night after night, King gave us famous phrases that made you smile. This was true even if the season was going nowhere:

“Give me the hot sauce!” — Often yelled when a Bulls player knocks down a clutch three-pointer or makes a big shot
“Let me step back and kiss myself!” — Exclaimed after a player creates space with a step-back jumper and hits the shot
“Too big, too strong, too fast, too good! — A staple during the Derrick Rose era to describe his unstoppable drives

Whether it was with Neil Funk or Adam Amin, King’s humor and flair meshed beautifully with both of them and carried Bulls fans through some of the franchise’s darkest years.

For a generation of fans who did not grow up watching him play and were born long after the dynasty, King was Bulls basketball.

King’s commentary wasn’t for everyone. He was loud, animated, full of catchphrases, and unapologetically himself. Fans from other teams and media often made fun of him. But that was exactly why he mattered to the Bulls fan.

In an era where sports have often become too corporate and disconnected from the average fan more than ever, his voice, his energy, his humor — they became part of the fabric of Bulls basketball. King will be remembered for making the Bulls basketball matter, even when the standings said it didn’t.

His voice will echo in this city forever.

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