COOK COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER RULES STACEY KING DIED OF HEART DISEASE

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office determined on Monday that Stacey King, the Chicago Bulls announcer, died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Long-term high blood pressure caused the condition, with obesity listed as a contributing factor, according to a spokesperson for the office. The manner of death was ruled natural. King was found dead at his home in River Forest, Illinois on the morning of 7 June.

King had initially been reported to have fallen at his home. The medical examiner's office ordered additional testing at the time, delaying any official determination for several weeks. The 59-year-old had served as the unmistakable voice of Bulls broadcasts for two decades, according to a statement from the NBA. King was drafted sixth overall by the Bulls in 1989 out of Oklahoma, where he was a consensus first-team All-American.

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called King "a cherished member of the Bulls family and one of the truly unique personalities in our organisation's history". President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf said King "had a unique gift for bringing people together and making every game feel personal". Michael Jordan, King's former teammate on all three championship runs, said the two "shared some special years together". Chicago Sports Network president Michael McCarthy remembered King as someone with "a unique ability to connect generations of Bulls fans".