John Starks
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.
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, 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 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.
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.