One of the darkest days in ESPN’s history has come to pass.
Longtime SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott has died at the age of 49, following a lengthy and public battle with cancer. Scott joined ESPN in 1993 as an anchor for ESPN2 and became one of the best known SportsCenter anchors.
Scott began batting cancer in 2007, with the most recent recurrence taking place two years ago. Throughout his cancer battle, he regularly appeared on-air, anchoring ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals from 2008-11 and hosting Monday Night Countdown on-site during the NFL season. That was in addition to his regular presence on SportsCenter.
As recently as last summer, he handled the NBA Finals trophy presentation and anchored the first SportsCenter from its new studio.
Scott received the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at last year’s ESPYs, delivering a speech in which he memorably noted: “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.”
