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==Legacy==
==Legacy==
His fierce tenacity, desire to win, and heart, and plays like "The Dunk", made Starks into a great crowd favorite in New York.<ref name="Wise"/> Starks's 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 one playoff game, Starks was ejected for headbutting Miller.
His fierce tenacity, desire to win, and heart, and plays like "The Dunk", made Starks into a great crowd favorite in New York.His fan base includes his #1 fan Dov R.<ref name="Wise"/> Starks's 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 one playoff game, Starks was ejected for headbutting Miller.


Starks is the Knicks' all-time leader in three point field goals (982).<ref>[http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/leaders_career.html New York Knickerbockers Career Leaders]</ref> 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 (basketball)|Dennis Scott]] broke Starks's record a year later with 267; it now belongs to [[Ray Allen]], who made 269 during the [[2005-06 NBA season]].
Starks is the Knicks' all-time leader in three point field goals (982).<ref>[http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/leaders_career.html New York Knickerbockers Career Leaders]</ref> 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 (basketball)|Dennis Scott]] broke Starks's record a year later with 267; it now belongs to [[Ray Allen]], who made 269 during the [[2005-06 NBA season]].

Revision as of 16:46, 1 May 2012

John Starks
Personal information
Born (1965-08-10) August 10, 1965 (age 59)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Career information
CollegeRogers State (1984)
Northern Oklahoma (1985)
Tulsa JC (1986–1987)
Oklahoma State (1987–1988)
Playing career1988–2002
PositionShooting guard
Number3, 9
Career history
1988–1989Golden State Warriors
1989–1990Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets (CBA)
1990Memphis Rockers (WBL)
1990–1998New York Knicks
1999–2000Golden State Warriors
2000Chicago Bulls
2000–2002Utah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points10,829
Rebounds2,129
Assists3,085
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

John Levell Starks (born August 10, 1965) is a former American professional basketball shooting guard. Starks was listed at 6'5" (1.96 m) and 190 pounds (86 kg)[1] during his NBA playing career. Although he was not drafted in the 1988 NBA Draft after attending four colleges in his native Oklahoma, including Oklahoma State University, he gained fame while playing for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association in the 1990s.

Early life

Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he attended Tulsa Central High School.[2] At Tulsa Central, Starks played only one year on the basketball team.[3] 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 students' stereo equipment in retaliation for the student breaking into Starks' dorm room and the college holding Starks and his roommates financially responsible for the damage.[4] 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.[5] In the fall of 1985, Starks averaged 11 points per game with Northern Oklahoma but left the college after being caught in his dorm smoking cannabis.[6] Having worked at a Safeway supermarket, Starks enrolled at Tulsa Junior College in the summer of 1986 to pursue a business degree.[7] He finished his collegiate career at Oklahoma State University in 1988.[3]

Career

Although he was passed over in the draft, Starks signed with the Golden State Warriors in September 1988 as a free agent. He was cut by the Warriors a year later, but worked his way back into the NBA after stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets, 1989–90) and the World Basketball League (Memphis Rockers, 1990–91).[3] In 1990, he 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 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 posterchild for the Knicks' physical play during that era, along with teammates Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley. Starks was a participant in the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Starks was at the center of one of the most famous plays in Knicks history, which has now become known simply as "The Dunk". During a 1993 playoffs series against the Chicago Bulls, 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 and Michael Jordan with his left hand.[8][9]

One of the low points of Starks's 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). Starks and the Knicks then watched[10] 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 Stanley Cup Finals. It served as an inspiration[10] 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's 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-10 in the fourth quarter. The Rockets went on to win the game and the championship, denying New York from having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year.

In 1995, Knicks coach Pat Riley left the Knicks for the Miami Heat after a dispute with then-General Manager Dave Checketts. The Knicks later hired Don Nelson, resurrecting the tensions from Starks's first year with Golden State. But Nelson was fired in the middle of his first season, and replaced 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 with Golden State, Starks played for the Bulls and the 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. His autobiography, John Starks: My Life, was published in 2004.

Starks is part owner and marketer for the Ektio basketball shoe, which doctor and former college basketball player Barry Katz designed to reduce ankle injuries.[11][12]

Slamball coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Result
Maulers 2008 5 7 .417 5th – – Did not qualify
Total 5 7 .417 - - - -

Legacy

His fierce tenacity, desire to win, and heart, and plays like "The Dunk", made Starks into a great crowd favorite in New York.His fan base includes his #1 fan Dov R.[8] Starks's 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 one playoff game, Starks was ejected for headbutting Miller.

Starks is the Knicks' all-time leader in three point field goals (982).[13] 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's record a year later with 267; it now belongs to Ray Allen, who made 269 during the 2005-06 NBA season.

Personal life

Starks' mother was one-quarter Muscogee.[14] On December 13, 1986, John Starks married his wife Jackie.[15] She was the cousin of one of Starks' neighbors.[16] Their son John Jr. was born in 1987,[17] and they have two daughters Chelsea and Tiara.[3]

NBA 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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988–1989 GSW 36 0 8.8 .408 .385 .654 1.1 .8 .6 .1 4.1
1990–1991 NYK 61 10 19.2 .439 .290 .752 2.1 3.3 1.0 .3 7.6
1991–1992 NYK 82 0 25.8 .449 .348 .778 2.3 3.4 1.3 .2 13.9
1992–1993 NYK 80 51 31.0 .428 .321 .795 2.6 5.1 1.1 .2 17.5
1993–1994 NYK 59 54 34.9 .420 .335 .754 3.1 5.9 1.6 .1 19.0
1994–1995 NYK 80 78 34.1 .395 .355 .737 2.7 5.1 1.2 1.0 15.3
1995–1996 NYK 81 71 30.8 .443 .361 .753 2.9 3.9 1.3 .1 12.6
1996–1997 NYK 77 1 26.5 .431 .369 .769 2.7 2.8 1.2 .1 13.8
1997–1998 NYK 82 10 26.7 .393 .327 .787 2.8 2.7 1.0 .1 12.9
1998–1999 GSW 50 50 33.7 .370 .290 .740 3.3 4.7 1.4 .1 13.8
1999–2000 GSW 33 30 33.6 .378 .348 .833 2.8 5.2 1.1 .1 14.7
1999–2000 CHI 4 0 20.5 .324 .300 1.000 2.5 2.8 1.3 .3 7.5
2000–2001 UTA 75 64 28.3 .398 .352 .802 2.1 2.4 1.0 .1 9.3
2001–2002 UTA 66 1 14.1 .368 .305 .805 1.0 1.1 1.0 .0 4.4
Career 866 420 27.2 .412 .340 .769 2.5 3.6 1.1 .1 12.5

See also

Further reading

  • Starks, John (2004), My Life, Sports Publishing LLC, ISBN 158261802X {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

References

  1. ^ NBA.com playerfile
  2. ^ "Thursday a big day for Central", Tulsa World, September 23, 2001.
  3. ^ a b c d "John Starks biography". NBA. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "NBA bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Starks 2004, pp. 39–40
  5. ^ Starks 2004, pp. 41–42
  6. ^ Starks 2004, pp. 43–44
  7. ^ Starks 2004, pp. 46–49
  8. ^ a b Mike Wise, "Hard Way Is Starks's Way; Crowd Favorite Returning to the Garden", New York Times, December 7, 1999.
  9. ^ "Five Great Dunks". Inside Stuff. NBA. December 29, 2004. Archived from the original on December 31, 2004.
  10. ^ a b Boeck, Greg (June 17, 1994). "Knicks Motivated by Rangers' Title". USA Today. p. 09C.
  11. ^ Van Riper, Tom (September 28, 2010). "John Starks Pitching New Shoe". Forbes. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  12. ^ Pesca, Mike (August 15, 2011). "Basketball Shoes May Reduce Ankle Injuries". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Retrieved Augsut 20, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ New York Knickerbockers Career Leaders
  14. ^ Starks 2004, p. 28
  15. ^ Starks 2004, p. 58
  16. ^ Starks 2004, p. 45
  17. ^ Starks 2004, p. 70

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