John Starks (basketball)

Infobox NBAretired


name=John Starks
|width=
caption=John Starks
position=Shooting guard
number=3, 9
birthdate=birth date and age|1965|8|10
Tulsa, Oklahoma
debutyear=1988
finalyear=2002
draftyear=
draftround=
draftpick=
college=Oklahoma State
teams=
* Golden State Warriors (1988–1989; 1999–2000)
New York Knicks (1990–1998)
Chicago Bulls (2000)
Utah Jazz (2000–2002)
stat1label=Points
stat1value=10,829
stat2label=Rebounds
stat2value=2,129
stat3label=Assists
stat3value=3,085
bbr=starkjo01
letter=s
highlights=
* 1x NBA All-Star (1994)
* 1x NBA Sixth Man of the Year (1997)
HOF=

John Levell Starks (born August 10 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player who gained fame while playing at shooting guard for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association in the 1990s. Starks was listed at 6'5" (1.95 m) and 190 lb (86 kg) during his NBA playing career.

Early life

Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He bagged groceries for several years before playing basketball for several community colleges. He finished his collegiate career at Oklahoma State University. Although he was passed over in the draft, Starks worked his way into the NBA after stints in the Continental Basketball Association and the World Basketball League. He was eventually signed by the Orlando Predators in 1988, but left in 1990 to try 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 didn't heal by that time, the Knicks could not release Starks, and thus kept him. As a result, Starks has on many occasions referred to Ewing as his saving grace. He 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 participant in the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Career

Starks was at the center of one of the most famous plays in Knick history. During a 1993 playoffs series against the Chicago Bulls, a series that the Knicks lost, Starks was in the right corner of the court being closely guarded by B.J. Armstrong. Ewing came to set a screen for Starks, who faked to the left like he was going to use the pick, and then fiercely drove along the baseline and dunked over Horace Grant, with Michael Jordan in the picture providing late help. The Knicks lost this playoff series, and every playoff series against the Bulls in which Jordan played.

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 3, Starks was fouled by Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon while attempting a three-pointer. At the time, however, the NBA only allowed two free throws during a foul on a three-point shot. Starks made both, but the Rockets won the game 93-89 (the league would change the rule to allow three free throws the next season). The Knicks had recovered to take a 3-2 series lead going into Game 6, but in the final seconds, 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 0-for-11 in the fourth quarter. The Rockets went on to win the game and the championship.

In 1995, Knicks coach Pat Riley left the Knicks to go to the Miami Heat after a dispute with then-General Manager Dave Checketts. The Knicks later hired Don Nelson, resurrecting the tensions from Starks' first year in Golden State. However, Nelson was fired in the middle of his first season, and the Knicks replaced him with Assistant Coach Jeff Van Gundy. With the addition of Allan Houston in 1996, Starks became a mentor as Houston took his spot in the starting lineup. Starks continued to be a steady contributor off the bench that season, and in 1997, he received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Two years later, Starks was traded back to the Warriors, along with Chris Mills and Terry Cummings, for Latrell Sprewell.

Later career and retirement

After his stint at Golden State, Starks played for the Bulls and Utah Jazz before retiring in 2002 with 10,829 career points, after failing to make an NBA team. He currently works as an alumnus and fan development official for the Knicks. In addition, he serves as a pre-and-post-game analyst on MSG Network’s home Knicks game coverage. His autobiography "John Starks: My Life" was released in 2004.

Legacy

Starks' fiery intensity often led to emotional displays while on the court. Reggie Miller, star shooting guard for the Indiana Pacers, was often a provocateur and target of his ire.

He is most remembered for "The Dunk" on Horace Grant with Michael Jordan in the picture providing late help, his atrocious Game 7 in the NBA Finals against the Rockets where he shot 2-18 from the field and 0-11 in the 4th Quarter, and for his fierce tenacity and heart.

Starks ranked 20th all-time in league career three-point field goals made, and is the Knicks' all-time leader in that category. He made 217 during the 1994-95 NBA season, breaking 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 Ray Allen, who made 269 during the 2005-06 NBA season.

Starks is mentioned in the NBA Live 2003 exclusive track "Blao" by Hot Karl in the lyric "I got a shot like Pedrag and a mouth like John Starks"

Starks is now the head coach of the Maulers of SlamBall [ [http://www.imgprogramming.com/ IMG Programming: Official Programmer of Slamball] ] .

tats

YEAR TEAM G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 88-89 GSW 36 0 8.8 .408 .385 .654 .40 .70 1.10 .8 .64 .08 4.1 90-91 NYK 61 10 19.2 .439 .290 .752 .50 1.70 2.10 3.3 .97 .28 7.6 91-92 NYK 82 0 25.8 .449 .348 .778 .50 1.80 2.30 3.4 1.26 .22 13.9 92-93 NYK 80 51 31.0 .428 .321 .795 .70 1.90 2.60 5.1 1.14 .15 17.5 93-94 NYK 59 54 34.9 .420 .335 .754 .60 2.50 3.10 5.9 1.61 .10 19.0 94-95 NYK 80 78 34.1 .395 .355 .737 .40 2.30 2.70 5.1 1.15 .05 15.3 95-96 NYK 81 71 30.8 .443 .361 .753 .40 2.50 2.90 3.9 1.27 .14 12.6 96-97 NYK 77 1 26.5 .431 .369 .769 .50 2.20 2.70 2.8 1.17 .14 13.8 97-98 NYK 82 10 26.7 .393 .327 .787 .60 2.20 2.80 2.7 .95 .06 12.9 98-99 GSW 50 50 33.7 .370 .290 .740 .70 2.60 3.30 4.7 1.38 .10 13.8 99-00 GSW 33 30 33.6 .378 .348 .833 .30 2.50 2.80 5.2 1.12 .09 14.7 99-00 CHI 4 0 20.5 .324 .300 1.000 0 2.50 2.50 2.8 1.25 .25 7.5 00-01 UTA 75 64 28.3 .398 .352 .802 .40 1.70 2.10 2.4 .97 .13 9.3 01-02 UTA 66 1 14.1 .368 .305 .805 .20 .80 1.00 1.1 .50 .00 4.4

ee also

*Knicks-Heat rivalry
*Bulls-Knicks rivalry
*My Life, a biography about John Starks.

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/john_starks/ Player profile] @ NBA.com
* [http://www.johnstarks.com/ John Starks Official Site]
* [http://mrbellersneighborhood.com/story.php?storyid=1261/ The Return of John Starks]