Benetti remembers – Jason Benetti says Stacey King’s death hit him personally, recalling how King welcomed him into Bulls broadcasts as a “partnership,” even during moments that went beyond the usual job—like signing autographs for nearly an hour and pushing through a long rain d
When Jason Benetti walked into Wrigley Field to do play-by-play on NBC’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” the news of Stacey King’s death landed like a reminder from home.
“It’s the first thing I think of,” Benetti said. King, the former Bulls player and beloved color analyst, died suddenly at age 59, the Bulls announced Sunday. No cause of death was given.
Benetti’s connection to King wasn’t abstract. He said their working relationship began in Chicago-area broadcasts where he sometimes shared the air with King. including an unusual memory tied to the White Sox. Benetti said he and Steve Stone used to do the Nationwide [Insurance] jingle for the White Sox telecasts. He then described a Bulls game where King told him it was his turn.
“We used to do the Nationwide [Insurance] jingle on the White Sox, me and Steve Stone,” Benetti said. “So I went and did a Bulls game with Stacey. and he was like. ‘OK. your turn to do the jingle.’” Benetti said King told him. “No. no. no. you do it.” He described how King still controlled the moment—how King sang it in the “dulcet R and B kind of way” he was known for. “nailed it. ” and made it feel like a lesson.
Benetti said King’s temperament made the welcome feel bigger than the assignment. Benetti, who served as an alternate on Bulls telecasts, worked alongside King during his stint. He described King wanting “a partnership,” even when it was only one game.
“I did maybe around 30 games, OK?” Benetti said. “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. That’s what I will also think about with Stacey. how truly welcoming he was to somebody who he’d never been around before.”.
He pointed to the way that welcome extended beyond the booth. Benetti said King didn’t have to do it, but after games he would still be signing autographs for almost an hour.
When Adam Amin—the Bulls regular play-by-play man—was off doing football and Benetti was done with the White Sox season, Benetti said he filled in during weekend games at the beginning of the year. He said King ended up becoming a good friend.
“He could have just done the game and gone home and all that,” Benetti said. “And then he’d be signing autographs for almost an hour after a game.”
Benetti also recalled a specific broadcast that, in his telling, showed how much King loved being around the work itself. He said King and Amin did a White Sox game from the NBC Tower in 2021 when Benetti was off doing football and “Stoney was off for whatever reason.” That day. Benetti said there was about a 2 1/2 hour rain delay—yet the broadcasters went into the Tower and did the telecast anyway.
“He loved Chicago,” Benetti said. “I mean, that’s just how much Stacey just liked being around it and performing and all that. I mean, it was remarkable.”
Benetti grew up in the south suburb of Homewood, and he said he knew King’s reputation long before they met. He recalled being a fan of the Bulls’ championship teams of the ‘90s. King played eight seasons with the Bulls and won three consecutive titles from 1991 through 1993.
“You know, it’s hard to be the headliner when Michael [Jordan] and Scottie [Pippen] are there, right?” Benetti said.
Benetti said the way King played mattered. too—not only as part of those championship years. but as something people could recognize and remember. “You know. the weirdest part for me was I grew up in a video generation when. like. the first basketball games were coming out for Nintendo and Super Nintendo. ” he said. “Stacey was one of the first guys I worked with. I told him, ‘I played as you in a video game, when I played as the Bulls.’”.
Benetti said King was the kind of player who could make the shots and hustle plays that change a game—an 8-foot jumper, running down a loose ball, or doing whatever was needed. Benetti tied that recognition to the way Chicago became sports-obsessed during the Jordan-era run.
“The Jordan Bulls were a big reason, I think, that a lot of people in Chicago were sports fans,” Benetti said. “And I’m sitting there right next to championship royalty.”
He said King carried that legacy without turning it into a performance. “He didn’t wear it on his sleeve, but you knew he was part of something big,” Benetti said. “I’m gonna miss him, a lot.”
Under the same night’s headline. there was also a second story of disappointment: the Cubs’ loss to the Giants on Sunday night. Kevin Alcantara entered as a pinch runner after Moises Ballesteros drew a one-out walk and moved quickly to third when pitcher Erik Miller fielded Michael Busch’s dribbler and threw it over first baseman Rafael Devers’ head. Alcantara beat the throw from second baseman Luis Arraez, who was backing up the play.
But later, Alcantara bolted toward the plate before making sure Alex Bregman’s liner cleared the infield. It didn’t. Devers caught the ball and easily doubled Alcantara off third, ending the inning. Ian Happ struck out to end the inning as well. The Cubs lost 2-1 in 10 innings, with the sequence in the eighth inning proving decisive.
A few hours earlier and a few miles away from any baseball lesson, Benetti was left with a different kind of memory—one built on being welcomed into a “partnership,” on time spent after the game, and on King’s insistence that the moment mattered even when nobody was watching the scoreboard.
Jason Benetti Stacey King Chicago Bulls Adam Amin NBC Sunday Night Baseball Homewood Wrigley Field color analyst Moises Ballesteros Kevin Alcantara Giants vs Cubs