NBA reporter and analyst Sekou Smith dies at 48 due to COVID-19
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Rachel Nichols gives moving tribute to Sekou Smith (2:51)
Rachel Nichols gets emotional while remembering the life of NBA reporter and analyst Sekou Smith, who died Tuesday of COVID-19. (2:51)
Sekou Smith, a longtime NBA reporter and television analyst, died Tuesday after a battle with COVID-19. He was 48.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Smith went to college at Jackson State in Mississippi, before starting his career at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. He went on to become a fixture in the NBA universe first as a beat writer covering the Indiana Pacers for the Indianapolis Star and the Atlanta Hawks for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, before joining Turner Sports in 2009.
It’s been a heartbreaking 2021 theme losing friends.
It started with NBA writer Sekou Smith on Jan. 26, on the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s death. On Super Bowl Sunday it was the baseball writer Pedro Gomez. And on Valentine’s Day, singer Ari Gold, after a battle with leukemia.
Yeah, I know, “Entourage” fans, I know. But my Ari was first something he reminded me of often. Something he enjoyed being in general.
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In 2004 his video for the song “Wave of You” a tribute to the photographer Herb Ritts, who died of HIV-related complications in 2002 became the first by a LGBTQ artist, who was out, to premiere on Logo TV.
COVID-19 The First Year: Celebrities Who Have Died From The Virus
02/15/21 AT 11:00 AM
As the U.S. approaches a year after the first person tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, many are remembering the lives that it’s taken throughout the year, and is still taking.
As of Feb. 13, there have been over 27
million positive cases and over 473,000 deaths in the U.S. and cases are still rising while the Biden administration tries to find a way to speed up the distribution of the vaccines.
Globally, there have been over 108 million reported cases and 2.3 million deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Sending all our love today to the family of Tony D’Archi, who passed away suddenly Monday night. Tony was a long time producer at TSN up until a few years ago. He was an incredibly passionate guy, and threw that into his work, mostly with the CFL.
He’ll be missed be all of us.
Crushing news. Sad to hear of Tony’s passing. He was a wonderful individual who loved our league and what he did. Tony was a big reason for my start at TSN and was always there to help. My sincere condolences to his wife Briana, children and the entire D’Archi family RIP DARCH https://t.co/DxFdKHFSSm