Funeral service honors Stacey King, 3-time NBA champion with Chicago Bulls who died at 59

A celebration of life was held Thursday for a beloved Chicago Bulls player and broadcaster.Stacey King died earlier this month at the age of 59. He brought passion to his role as a tv analyst.

Friends and family turned out Thursday to pay tribute at his funeral in Oakbrook Terrace.ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watchOne friend who knew him well said King was one of those larger than life personalities, but also very approachable.

He loved people, and lots of people showed up to pay their respects at his funeral service.King will forever be linked to the Bull championship teams of the early 90s. He played on the first three teams with center Bill Cartwright, who remembers a friend who never met a stranger."

That's just the kind of person he was," Cartwright said. "He just wanted you to feel good. He wanted to to feel comfortable around him, and he's gonna be missed.

He's not replaceable."King played five seasons with the Bulls after being a first round draft pick in 1989. He joined the team as a broadcaster in 2006, working with Adam Amin."

He was a celebrity around the world," Amin said.ABC7's Mark Schanowski worked with King on broadcasts and a popular Bulls podcast."Big personality and a big heart," Schanowski said.

"He cared about Bulls fans."Former teammate Will Perdue remembers King's fun-loving personality both as a player and later as a colleague on the broadcast team."Overwhelming the impact he had on the Bulls community worldwide," Perdue said.

Chicago Sports Network producer Tamra Anderson spent a lot of time with King working together and became good friends. They posed for pictures including this one of the crew from the last games of the season."Stacey was more like a brother to me," Anderson said.

"Always called him my big brother. He looked up for me. Checked to make sure I was good."

The Bulls have a memorial service panned for later this month at the Advocate Center. That will be for invited guests only.