John Starks

John Levell Starks (born August 10, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was undrafted in the 1988 NBA draft after attending four colleges in his native Oklahoma, including Oklahoma State University. Starks was named an NBA All-Star while playing for the New York Knicks in the 1990s.

For the drummer, see John "Jabo" Starks. For other people, see John Stark (disambiguation).

John Starks
Starks at Madison Square Garden in 2013
Personal information
Born (1965-08-10) August 10, 1965
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolCentral (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
CollegeOklahoma State (1987–1988)
NBA draft1988: undrafted
Playing career1988–2002
PositionShooting guard
Number30, 3, 9
Career history
1988–1989Golden State Warriors
1989–1990Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets
1990Memphis Rockers
1990–1998New York Knicks
1999–2000Golden State Warriors
2000Chicago Bulls
2000–2002Utah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points10,829 (12.5 ppg)
Rebounds2,129 (2.5 rpg)
Assists3,085 (3.6 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life

Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he attended Tulsa Central High School.[1] At Tulsa Central, Starks played only one year on the basketball team.[2]

After high school, he enrolled at Rogers State College in 1984. While at Rogers State, Starks was on the "taxi squad" of the basketball team for backups to replace injured or suspended players; taxi squad players did not suit up and instead watched games from the stands. However, Starks was expelled from Rogers State for stealing another student's stereo equipment in retaliation for the student breaking into Starks' dorm room and the college holding him and his roommates financially responsible for the damage.[3] Starks transferred to Northern Oklahoma College in spring 1985, made the basketball team there, and was sentenced to five days in jail for the robbery. He served the sentence during spring break.[4] In the fall of 1985, Starks averaged 11 points per game with Northern Oklahoma but left the college after being caught smoking cannabis in his dorm.[5] Having worked at a Safeway supermarket, Starks enrolled at Tulsa Junior College in the summer of 1986 to pursue a business degree.[6] While playing intramural basketball, he came to the attention of Ken Trickey, the former coach of Oral Roberts University who was then starting a basketball program for Oklahoma Junior College. Starks played there for a season, then earned a scholarship at Oklahoma State University in 1988, where he finished his collegiate career.[2][7]

Career

Golden State Warriors

Undrafted in the 1988 NBA draft, Starks signed with the Golden State Warriors in September 1988 as a free agent. However, as the Warriors had drafted fellow shooting guard Mitch Richmond with the fifth overall pick that year, Starks played limited minutes in only 36 games while Richmond won Rookie of the Year.

Other Leagues

Starks played stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets, 1989–90) and World Basketball League (Memphis Rockers, 1990–91).[2]

New York Knicks
Starks in 1996 with the New York Knicks

In 1990, Starks tried out for the New York Knicks. In one practice, he tried to dunk on Knicks center Patrick Ewing. Ewing threw him down and Starks twisted his knee. The team was not allowed to release him unless it healed by the end of December. When it did not heal by that time, the Knicks could not release him.[8] As a result, Starks has referred to Ewing as his saving grace. Starks eventually became the starting shooting guard, becoming a key player on the team and playing eight seasons in New York, from 1990 to 1998. Starks was a poster child for their physical play during that era, along with teammates Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley. He was a participant in the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Starks executed one of the most famous plays in Knicks history, a play that became known simply as "The Dunk". In Game 2 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Starks was in the court's right corner, and closely guarded by B. J. Armstrong. Ewing came to set a screen for Starks, who faked to the left, as if to exploit the screen, but then drove along the baseline and, with his left hand, dunked over both Horace Grant and Michael Jordan as Jordan came over to help.[9][10]

One of the low points of Starks' career came in the 1994 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. In the closing seconds of Game 3 and the Knicks trailing by three, Starks was fouled by Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon while attempting a three-pointer. At the time, the NBA allowed only two free throws during a foul on a three-pointer. Starks made both, but Houston won 93–89 (the league would change the rule to allow three free throws the next season). Starks and the Knicks then watched[11] their home court host the New York Rangers' first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years, with their 3–2 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. It served as an inspiration[11] for the Knicks to recover to take a 3–2 series lead going into Game 6. However, in the final seconds of Game 6, Olajuwon blocked Starks' last-second three-point attempt to give Houston an 86–84 victory. In Game 7, Starks had one of the worst games of his career, shooting 2-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter. The Rockets went on to win the game and the championship.

In 1995, Starks became the first player to hit 200 three pointers in a single season.[12] In the offseason, Pat Riley left the Knicks to go to the Miami Heat after a dispute with then General Manager Dave Checketts. The Knicks hired Don Nelson, bringing back the tensions from Starks' first season in Golden State. Nelson started Hubert Davis over Starks. Nelson was eventually fired mid-season, and the Knicks replaced him with Jeff Van Gundy. In 1996, Allan Houston took Starks' starting spot. Starks was a steady contributor off the bench and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in 1997.

On February 18, 1997, Starks hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat the Phoenix Suns at home, 95–94. On the play, he rebounded an Allan Houston missed three while getting to the three-point line and head-faked the Suns' Wesley Person before releasing the shot just as the horn sounded. Replays were inconclusive as to whether the shot was released in time, but the basket stood. This may have been the most dramatic regular season moment of Starks' career, as it was his only buzzer beater to win an NBA game.

Return to Golden State

In January 1999, Starks was traded back to his original team, the Golden State Warriors. Starks was traded, along with Chris Mills and Terry Cummings, in exchange for Latrell Sprewell. Starks remained with the Warriors until February 2000, when he was traded to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team trade.[13]

Chicago Bulls

Starks played for the Chicago Bulls for four games in the 1999–2000 season.[14]

Utah Jazz

Starks finished his career with the Utah Jazz, playing for the Jazz from 2000 to 2001 to 2001–02.

Later career and retirement

After his stint with Golden State, Starks played for the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz before failing to make an NBA team in 2002 and retiring with 10,829 career points. He currently works for the Knicks as an alumnus and fan development official, and as a pre-and-post-game analyst on MSG Network's home Knicks game coverage. He has also served as the head coach of the Maulers, a Slamball team. He was head coach of the Westchester Wildfire during the 2003 United States Basketball League season.[15] His autobiography, John Starks: My Life, was published in 2004.

Starks is part-owner and a promoter for the Ektio basketball shoe, which doctor and former college basketball player Barry Katz designed to reduce ankle injuries.[16][17]

John Starks owns a Kia dealership, John Starks Kia, in the Briarwood neighborhood of Jamaica, NY.

Slamball coaching record
TeamYearRegular SeasonPost Season
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostResult
Maulers200857.4175th––Did not qualify
Total57.417----

Legacy

His tenacity, desire to win, and plays like "The Dunk", made Starks into a great crowd favorite in New York.[9] Despite not being a perennial all-star, Starks is generally considered one of the greatest Knicks in history.[18] Starks' fiery intensity often led to emotional displays on the court. Reggie Miller, star shooting guard for the Indiana Pacers, was often a provocateur and target of his ire; during game three of the 1993 NBA Playoffs, Starks was ejected for headbutting Miller.

Starks is the Knicks' all-time leader in three point field goals (982).[19] He was the first player in NBA history to make 200 three-pointers in one season; his 217 during the 1994–95 NBA season broke Louie Dampier's single-season professional (NBA or ABA) record of 199 during the 1968–69 ABA season. Dennis Scott broke Starks' record a year later with 267; it now belongs to Stephen Curry.

Despite his relatively short height, Starks was, like his teammates Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing, an apt defender on the 1990s defensive-minded New York Knicks, which employed a physical No Lay-Up Defense under head coach Pat Riley. Starks was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team once, in 1992–93.

Starks is mentioned by surname in A Tribe Called Quest's song "8 Million Stories" on Midnight Marauders and in Beastie Boys' "Get It Together" off Ill Communication.[20]

Personal life

Starks' has claimed that his mother was one-quarter Muscogee and that he is one-eighth Muscogee.[21]

On December 13, 1986, John Starks married his wife Jackie.[22] They have one son and two daughters.[2]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988–89 Golden State 3608.8.408.385.6541.1.8.6.14.1
1990–91 New York 611019.2.439.290.7522.13.31.0.37.6
1991–92 New York 82025.8.449.348.7782.33.41.3.213.9
1992–93 New York 805131.0.428.321.7952.65.11.1.217.5
1993–94 New York 595434.9.420.335.7543.15.91.6.119.0
1994–95 New York 807834.1.395.355.7372.75.11.2.115.3
1995–96 New York 817130.8.443.361.7532.93.91.3.112.6
1996–97 New York 77126.5.431.369.7692.72.81.2.113.8
1997–98 New York 82*1026.7.393.327.7872.82.71.0.112.9
1998–99 Golden State 50*50*33.7.370.290.7403.34.71.4.113.8
1999–00 Golden State 333033.6.378.348.8332.85.21.1.114.7
1999–00 Chicago 4020.5.324.3001.0002.52.81.3.37.5
2000–01 Utah 756428.3.398.352.8022.12.41.0.19.3
2001–02 Utah 66114.1.368.305.8051.01.11.0.04.4
Career 86642027.2.412.340.7692.53.61.1.112.9
All-Star 1020.0.444.333-3.03.01.00.09.0

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991 New York 309.3.400-1.0001.02.0.0.02.0
1992 New York 12024.6.374.239.8082.53.21.4.012.1
1993 New York 151538.3.440.373.7173.56.41.0.216.5
1994 New York 251833.6.381.356.7702.34.61.4.114.6
1995 New York 111134.5.450.411.6192.35.21.2.115.6
1996 New York 8839.3.448.467.7443.64.11.6.116.0
1997 New York 9128.1.444.317.8063.42.81.1.014.0
1998 New York 10231.4.472.424.8754.02.31.6.116.4
2001 Utah 3012.0.333.2501.0001.0.3.3.33.7
Career 965531.6.421.371.7592.84.11.3.114.2

Publications
  • Starks, John (2004), My Life, Sports Publishing LLC, ISBN 1-58261-802-X

See also

References
  1. "Thursday a big day for Central". Tulsa World. September 23, 2001. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. "John Starks biography". NBA. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009.
  3. Starks 2004, pp. 39–40
  4. Starks 2004, pp. 41–42
  5. Starks 2004, pp. 43–44
  6. Starks 2004, pp. 46–49
  7. Starks 2004, pp. 55–61
  8. Rosenblatt, Roger (April 17, 1994). "Off the Bench, Out of Purgatory; John Starks". The New York Times.
  9. Wise, Mike (December 7, 1999). "Hard Way Is Starks's Way; Crowd Favorite Returning to the Garden". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  10. "Five Great Dunks". Inside Stuff. NBA. December 29, 2004. Archived from the original on December 31, 2004.
  11. Boeck, Greg (June 17, 1994). "Knicks Motivated by Rangers' Title". USA Today. p. 09C.
  12. Mather, Victor (January 20, 2016). "How the N.B.A. 3-Point Shot Went From Gimmick to Game Changer". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  13. Armour, Nancy (February 20, 2000). "'Hated' Starks Now With the Bulls". AP News. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  14. Smith, Sam (March 22, 2000). "Bulls wave bye-bye to Starks". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  15. Williams, Andre D. (May 1, 2003). "'Old man' Polynice contributes to win for ValleyDawgs". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. 43. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  16. Van Riper, Tom (September 28, 2010). "John Starks Pitching New Shoe". Forbes. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  17. Pesca, Mike (August 15, 2011). "Basketball Shoes May Reduce Ankle Injuries". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  18. "The 25 Greatest Knicks". www.espn.com. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  19. "New York Knicks Career Leaders". Basketball-Reference.com.
  20. "The Beastie Boys' 10 Coolest Sports Name Drops". Complex.
  21. Starks 2004, p. 28
  22. Starks 2004, p. 58
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