Jason Benetti Remembers Stacey King After Bulls Death at 59

Stacey King’s death at 59 hit the bulls broadcast family hard. Jason Benetti said the news felt personal because he had worked alongside King and came away with the same impression every time: a partner who made room for everyone around him.

Benetti said he did maybe around 30 games with King and that King wanted a partnership even if they were together for just one game. He also said King was welcoming to someone he had never been around before, a detail that came through in the way they worked on Bulls telecasts.

Benetti and King

“The way he treated me, and the way he treated everybody around, I mean, he wanted a partnership, even if we did just one game with him,” Benetti said. “It’s the first thing I think of,’’” he said of learning about King’s death.

That memory reached back to a relationship built on short stints and shared broadcasts. Benetti said he worked alongside King as an alternate on Bulls telecasts, while King also left a mark away from basketball through a White Sox telecast from the NBC Tower in 2021 that lasted through a 2 1/2 hour rain delay.

King’s Bulls Run

King’s place with the Bulls was already secured by his playing career. He spent eight seasons with the team and won three consecutive NBA titles from 1991 to 1993, part of a group that included Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Benetti framed that era simply when he told King, “You know, it’s hard to be the headliner when Michael [Jordan] and Scottie [Pippen] are there, right?’’” He also told King, “I played as you in a video game, when I played as the Bulls.”

A Voice Chicago Knew

The Bulls announced King’s death on Sunday and said he died suddenly at 59. No cause of death was given in the announcement, leaving the focus on the legacy he built as a player and later as a familiar voice for Chicago viewers.

Benetti added another small piece of that legacy from the broadcast booth. He said King would be signing autographs for almost an hour after a game, and he recalled a jingle bit in which King took over and “nailed it,” the kind of detail that made King feel less like a former star than a fixture people could actually meet.