NBC sports anchor Bruce Beck kept praying that Post sports photographer Anthony J. Causi could beat COVID-19, hoping it could be another one of those New York sports comebacks for the ages that he chronicled with his friend of more than two decades.

Beck knew they needed some breaks. Causi had an underlying condition, Beck said. He had Type-2 Diabetes, according to Beck, which we all have learned hinders recovery from COVID-19.

And there was a glimmer because Causi, after being on a ventilator and after suffering kidney failure, was still fighting and stabilizing. There seemed to be good news.

“‘We need a David Tyree miracle,’ ” Beck said he would tell family and friends during the 25-day ordeal. “We just need one catch, an amazing catch that could change this whole thing. His body had too many underlying things going on. We thought we would get a miracle.”

On Easter Sunday, Causi’s death struck like an anvil into the hearts of Beck and so many in sports media. He was just 48, leaving behind a wife and two young children.

A photographer’s job is to make moments timeless and Causi did it so many times in big moments and small.

While Causi has received tributes from the likes of Derek Jeter, Justin Tuck and Noah Syndergaard, when you talk about Causi’s sports media family, there are so many at The Post and elsewhere. But Beck, Jimmy Roberts, Beck’s NBC cameraman, and Charles Wenzelberg, The Post’s chief photographer and Causi’s good friend, were big parts of his pack.

Beck has lasted so long because he is the hardest-working man in local sports TV. He is everywhere, with Roberts by his side. That’s how Causi operated, too.

On the road, especially during playoff runs, the media travel together. For the most part, your rivals are your friends. Competing in the press box and then meeting later for dinner.

“He never missed the big event,” Beck said. “I was the same. He, Jimmy, his buddy Charlie Wenzelberg, the four of us would just go out to dinner all the time.”

Beck and Roberts called him “Causi.” All the stories about Causi are true, they say. A pure photographer, he was always taking pictures, jotting down an email address and sending a little history for someone to remember.

It could be his iconic shot of Jeter touching the Joe DiMaggio sign at the old Yankee Stadium or of a couple who had just gotten engaged in Central Park.

“He treated every shot like it was the most important shot, like he was applying to a college and this picture that would get him into Harvard or not,” Beck said.

The outpouring for Causi in his death can be understood because of how he treated people.

A perfect tribute to the greatest guy! Thank you @BruceBeck4NY for describing @ACausi so perfectly pic.twitter.com/4qoLi69wLA

— Cherí Golub 🦋 (@cherigolub) April 13, 2020

“Describing Anthony is easy,” said Roberts, a cameraman cut from the same cloth. “Causi had the Turtle Effect. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside — and willing to stick his neck out for anyone.”

From his hospital bed, Causi reached out to Beck.

“He texted me, ‘Bruce, it’s bad, it’s really bad,’ ” Beck said. “He knew it was bad. He did.”

There was no miracle, but, as a photographer professionally and in his spare time, Causi left behind so many memories.

Causi was always taking shots of Beck and Roberts working or Beck with his wife, Janet, at events.

“We have some beautiful pictures,” Beck said.

Editor’s note: A GoFundMe account has been set up for the Causi family in wake of Anthony’s passing. Please find it here.