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Ernie Johnson gives his Sports Emmy to Stuart Scott's daughters

Ernie Johnson Jr., host of TNT's "Inside the NBA," has long reigned as one of sports' classiest guys. On Tuesday night at the Sports Emmy awards, he showed why he's one of the few people in the business held in universally high regard.

Johnson won his third career Emmy for best studio host. But he took the moment to recognize Stuart Scott, the ESPN anchor who succumbed to cancer earlier this year. Scott had been honored earlier in the evening with a tribute, and Johnson added the perfect grace note to the evening.

Johnson asked Scott's daughters, Taelor and Sydni, to come to the stage, and then handed them his trophy in their father's honor. Such a simple gesture, yet one that so few likely would have done.

Great move all the way around. Johnson himself has battled cancer, as he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins' lymphoma in 2003 and later beat the disease.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.

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