I'm very proud to say that I'm a 38 yr old man and still get so excited about John Starks and watching highlights and remembering what an amazing player he was. I started watching basketball his first year with the Knicks and he was the reason why fell in love with the game and the Knicks. It wasn't Jordan, Shaq, Bird, it was John Starks. All the odds were stacked against him and he made it. Of course I have respect for all the greats but John Starks, to me, was and still is the best. Passionate and truly loved the game. Thank you John Starks for everything. The best years of my life.
Damn, I thought I was the only person who idolized him growing up.... Still to this day at 33, he's still my favorite player of all times and will always be.
All the way here in St. Louis. Didn't have a basketball team growing up. I'm die hard St. Louis sports but the Knicks grew on me when I was a kid. To this day....John Starks is my fav. player of all-time. The true underdog.
you re not the only one my fav player too a shame the knicks didnt retire his number when i see some bums like calderon or jennings wore his numbers i get mad
I feel so privileged that back when this was happening, I was a 14-yr-old teen who was mad about basketball, slept with it, eat with it, did everything with it, and had John Starks as my own personal idol! That moment when he dunked over Grant & Jordan... I remember it as if it was yesterday, in the early morning hours, watching the game with my dad ('cause I'm from Europe), he preparing for work, me preparing for school.... DAMN! Thank you for those moments forever John!
My favorite player of all time. I was in 9th grade when they lost to the Rockets. I was heartbroken. I didnt came out of my room that day. This was before the internet days, i was just sulking sad 😅
My gosh.....I miss my Knicks golden years!!! What a battle!!! Stark was the fire. Sometimes wanted to hit him cause of the technicals but the usually 4th quarters comebacks and the never giving up mind was huge in Starks and all NY team. Celebrated with them a suffered too but had a wonderfully years as a Nicks fan. Old School NBA rocks!!!
My favorite player of all time! other than gary payton nobody d'ed up jordan like starks. not that he shut jordan down, he was never scared and never backed down.
I’m 16 years old and Starks has been my hero all my life. He’s my idol, he’s the best, he’s fearless, he’s the heart of the Knicks (always will be), and he’s the heart of my basketball game
from bag boy to nba allstar, one of my favourite players ever, just no fear and crazy streaky shooter, won them game 6 against the rockets all by himself. Used to stand square at the freethrow line, bounce five times and copy his shot even though it was uncomfortable for my shoulder, just loved his game .
+from.way. downtown Starks has one of the most beautiful shots. I grew up in Oklahoma too. They taught fundamentals. He is still such a great story man. That dunk on the posters in my friends room, side by side with Jordan and the tongue out from the free throw line. good times.
+Johnny Wadsworth whata beautiful shot he had. Was it a coaching stuff or did John developed it playing rough streetball in Oklahoma? probably something in between
all true. and he did it against some of the very best the game ever saw. early nineties still the high point for the nba - jordan, kemp, malone, shaq, hardaway all at their best and starks mixed it with all of them.
Starks had the ultimate nba shooting guard playstyle in the 90s . He had the sweet athletic jumpshooting form ,great 3pt range with a nice hopstep dribble which was a nice counter for him to pull up midrange or switch speeds to go to the basket hard. HE was a hard-nosed defender .Starks was hyperathletic with his 6'3" wiry frame made him a annoying threat every night against the NBA elites at his position.
hard worker very determined no matter how bad the situation he never looked back and kept striving for greatness he was also my High School sweethearts favorite player miss you rest in peace Jojo
Even as a Pacer fan, I fucking love John starks. He was a nightmare back in the day for the Pacers, but man, I gotta give credit where it’s due. This dude was a maniac on the court
he's my favorite player of all time cause he was small,didn't go 2 no great college,was let go a couple of times and was bagging groceries and 2 get the knicks 2 the nba finals,the underdog is alway's great to root 4
One of the greatest Knicks of all time! An awesome example of what God does in the lives of believers! He kept his faith in God and accomplished many goals, so all I can say is "great job my brother"!
John Starks says himself he made mistakes and then one night got down on his knees and prayed. He prayed asking God to remove him from the place he found himself; the problems he created. The next day, Starks said his life began to change and he got into college, a part time job bagging groceries and was on the road to the NBA. We love him so much on the Knicks. We love him today.
I have mixed feelings about Starks. He was definitely a passionate and dynamic player. He gave it his all in each game. However, he was very streaky. On one day, he could hit 10 three pointers. On another day, he would miss 10 three pointers. Starks was a reliable second option for Ewing, until the Houston meltdown. He was never right after that. His scoring average and field goal percentage dropped substantially after that incident. Even though Starks had a shitty performance, it's unfair to lay all of the blame on him. It was just one game- it's not like he was bad the entire series. And plenty of NBA stars have had off nights during the playoffs. Kobe once shot 3 for 23 in a playoff game- and he still won Finals MVP. In the Houston series, Ewing was shut down by Hakeem. Yes, Starks should've stopped shooting when he realized that he didn't have it on that particular day, but he shouldn't be antagonized just for that one performance. He's not quite a Hall of Famer, but he had one heck of a career.
Why shut down a shooter who is the reason u got to this point in the first place? Curry, Thompson, durant. They all have off nights but they keep shooting because that's what shooters do. U live and die by there shot. That particular night he just didnt have it. But I guarantee u if they had to do it again they would want him taking those same shots because he made them all season long and got them to that point. With shooters they can miss all night and end up hitting the game winner.
You never tell a shooter to stop shooting. If anything keep shooting until u find your shot but try to drive to the basket to get some fouls called to go to the line to help find your shot. But stop shooting? If have to disagree
starks with mason and Oakley are my all time favorite knicks.. tho i liked every player on that 90's knicks from gerald wilkins to greg anthony to charlie ward to sprewell.. mo cheeks, trent tucker, mark jackson, the Xman LJ, ewing of course, and even chris dudley and john wallace and walter mccarthy
1994 playoffs Knicks vs Bulls, I was a 15-year-old girl who just immigrated from China to Canada, and started watching the nba playoffs with my dad. Fell in love with Starks. The way he ran, moved, hustled, defended, was just completely mesmerizing for me. At the beginning of the series I was a bandwagon Jordan-less Bulls fan, after the series I was a die-hard Knicks fan because of Starks. Two very sad days: when he had that heartbreaking game against the Rockets (although I blame pat riley more for not benching him while he was obviously having an off day). When he got traded to Golden State. When I tell people my favourite player was John Starks. The reaction was always “why?!?” 😂
As a Bulls fan, I hated his guts, but I damn sure respected him. New York had one hell of a player (and so did the Bulls for a little while...). There will never be another like John Starks.
My favorite Knicks of all time: 1. Bernard "BK Broiler" King, 2. Dave "Double D" Debusscher? 3. Walt "Clyde" Frazier, 4. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, 5. John "Crazed Dogg" Starks!!!
charismatic9904 I know what you mean but they are both beloved sons of the city for different reasons. Kind of like a favored son vs. the prodigal son. Starks’ unpredictability and erratic behavior is something you came to accept as part of his unbridled passion but you would never throw out the baby with the bath water no matter what. He may have been a loose cannon but he was OUR loose cannon. John is forever etched into the fabric of New York City.
What an inspiration, I remember watching that series against bulls and jordan . it was really a lot closer than the 4-2 bulls series win . starks also blocked a jordan dunk attempt which they forgot to show here . But i think the Ny coach should have told starks not to shoot and do other things . They could have beat Houston in 1994 if Starks was told not to shoot so much. It was a big mistake by the Knicks to let stark shoot all he wanted . He was so good at so many other things on the court . bad decision by the knicks . Was Reilly still hc in 1994 ?
Why would u tell a shooter not to shoot though? Especially since hes the reason you're in that game anyway. You live and die by the shooter and in that game that just had to libe with the results but I can guarantee if they all had to do it all over again they would want starks shooting that same shots he took because he was making them all season long and he brought them back in game 6. You cant tell a shooter to stop shooting just because hes off one night because that same shooter can hit the game winner.
Greatest NYK of all time imo! W/ all the ups + downs, highs + lows, nobody cud evoke a live or die mentality like Johnny on the spot! We all knew he took the losses as hard as we did + nobody wanted it more than Starks! Ewing was my favorite player from 6 yrs old (1989) on, but all these yrs later looking back..... It was Starks that I love the most! He is NYC!!
terrible execution on the last play, Ewing came out way too far to set the pick and like most of Patricks picks it was moving and illegal, damn that loss hurt for a while . Why didn't coach get him to the line for a loosen up freethrow or 2 and get comfy that way ??
+from.way. downtown teriblle play mate all right:( was thinking...if Starks fakes that shot, with Hakeem already on a jump..John gets a foul and 3 free throws...would have been epic
LOVE THIS! Also, Check out John Stark's story here! And he still has it at 50! Watch the game of HORSE at the end! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oQsRaZ3Edmw.html
i love starks . But wtf was the coach thinking? was reilly still coach in the nba finals against houston in 94 ? When a player is cold, you gotta tell that player not to keep forcing shots and to forget about it and calm down and do other things on the court . Ironically a player starts shooting better when he is not desperate and loosens up passing, rebounding, defense, driving , then he gets his touch back.
