Stacey King

Ronald Stacey King was born on January 29, 1967, in Lawton, Oklahoma, the son of James E. King and Lois J. King. His family obituary describes a loving Baptist Christian home that gave him a lasting foundation of faith, family and service. He had an older brother, Edward. At Lawton High School he averaged 18.4 points and 8 rebounds as a senior, which drew only moderate interest from college programs at first.

King played for the Oklahoma Sooners under coach Billy Tubbs from 1985 to 1989. He averaged about six points as a freshman and seven as a sophomore. Frustrated by limited minutes after the 1987 NCAA tournament loss to Iowa, he considered transferring, but academic adviser Rick Pryor, Tubbs and his parents persuaded him to stay. He spent that summer working on a construction crew at Remington Park before recommitting to basketball.

In 1987-88 he averaged 22.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, was MVP of the Big Eight tournament, and helped Oklahoma reach the 1988 NCAA championship game, its first in 41 years. He scored 17 points with 7 rebounds in the title game, which Oklahoma lost to Kansas. He stayed for his senior season and averaged 26.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks on 52.3 percent shooting, leading the Big Eight in scoring and blocks. He was named Big Eight Player of the Year, a consensus first-team All-American and The Sporting News Player of the Year. He finished sixth in Sooners history in points (2,008) and eighth in rebounds (825), and his No. 33 is honoured by the program.

Playing career. The Chicago Bulls selected King sixth overall in the 1989 NBA draft. As a rookie he played all 82 games, averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds, scored a career-high 24 points against Washington on March 20, 1990, started two playoff games in place of Scottie Pippen against Philadelphia, and made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. His production dipped in later seasons, but he was a rotation player on the Bulls teams that won the 1991, 1992 and 1993 championships, and contributed to the fourth-quarter comeback in Game 6 of the 1992 Finals. On February 24, 1994, the Bulls traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Luc Longley and a second-round pick. He averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first Minnesota stretch, then played for the Miami Heat (1995-96), and on 10-day contracts with the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks (1996-97). He also played for the CBA's Grand Rapids Hoops and Sioux Falls Skyforce, Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi in Turkey (1997-98) and Atenas de Córdoba in Argentina (1998-99), retiring after injuries in 1999. In 438 NBA games he averaged 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.

Coaching. King became an assistant with the CBA's Rockford Lightning in 2000-01 and was promoted to head coach on January 15, 2001. In 2001-02 he led Rockford to its first CBA Finals in 16 years, losing 116-109 to the Dakota Wizards. He later coached the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Broadcasting. King joined Comcast SportsNet Chicago in 2004 as a Bulls studio analyst, worked games in the 2006 playoffs, became a regular game analyst in 2006-07 and was named lead colour commentator in 2008 alongside Neil Funk. Over the years he also worked with Johnny "Red" Kerr, Tom Dore and, from 2020, Adam Amin, and stayed in the role when the Bulls moved to the Chicago Sports Network in 2024. His calls of Derrick Rose's MVP-era plays made him a national name, and his catchphrases were used on national broadcasts. He and Funk won an Emmy in 2013. He also hosted Stacey King's Gimme the Hot Sauce podcast, which aired on YouTube and podcast platforms and on CHSN.

The Chicago Sun-Times described King as someone who always had a big personality and enjoyed being the centre of attention. He called himself a man of the people and routinely stayed after Bulls games to sign autographs and greet fans. He was married from 1988 until a divorce in 2008, was reported engaged to Kathleen McGuire in 2012, and married Debi King in 2017. He had four sons, Erick, Garrett, Brandon and Mason. His mother died on December 25, 2010, and his older brother Edward died of COVID-19 on May 3, 2020. He lived in River Forest, Illinois, in the western suburbs of Chicago.

King was raised in the Baptist church, and his family said faith remained central to his life. He was open about putting winning above personal statistics, telling ESPN in 2011 that he loved to win more than anything and was glad he had landed on a championship team rather than a losing one where he might have scored more. As a broadcaster he said he tried to speak the way a fan on the couch would, while still taking his job as an analyst seriously. After his brother's death in 2020 he used social media to urge people to protect themselves from COVID-19.

King is one of the few people tied to the Bulls across both of the franchise's defining eras: as a player on the first three-peat and as the voice of Bulls television for nearly 20 years. Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called him one of the truly unique personalities in the organization's history. CHSN chief executive Michael McCarthy said he had a unique ability to connect generations of Bulls fans. Former teammate Bill Cartwright said he was not replaceable. After his death, tributes appeared on the Wrigley Field scoreboard and outside the United Center, and the Bulls asked fans to send memories to his family. At Oklahoma he remains one of the program's greatest players, with his No. 33 honoured.

Three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993). NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1990). The Sporting News College Player of the Year (1989). Consensus first-team All-American (1989). Big Eight Player of the Year (1989). First-team All-Big Eight (1989). Big Eight tournament MVP (1988). No. 33 honoured by the Oklahoma Sooners. Emmy Award with broadcast partner Neil Funk (2013). Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2020.

King's catchphrases became part of Chicago sports culture. They included "Gimme the hot sauce!", "Too big, too strong, too fast, too good" for Derrick Rose, and his sign-off "Drive home safely, Chicago. Beep! Beep!" His January 22, 2010 call of Rose dunking over Goran Dragić ("What are you doing, Dragić? Did you not get the memo?") went viral, and he later said it kind of made him famous. The Bulls put a soundboard of his lines on their website. He hosted the Gimme the Hot Sauce podcast.

King's second Bulls season, 1990-91, included public frustration over his playing time and a walkout from practice late in the season that led to a one-game suspension and fewer minutes. He later spoke about accepting a bench role for the sake of winning.

King was found dead at his home in River Forest, Illinois, on Sunday, June 7, 2026, aged 59. Paramedics were called to the house that morning, and it was reported that he had fallen. The Bulls announced his death the same day. On August 4, 2026, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause was hypertensive cardiovascular disease, a condition linked to long-term high blood pressure. Visitation and a funeral service were held on June 18, 2026, at Chapel Hill Gardens West Funeral Home in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, and the Bulls held an invitation-only memorial at the Advocate Center near the United Center on June 29, 2026. His burial place has not been made public.