Early life

Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he attended Tulsa Central High School. At Tulsa Central, Starks played only one year on the basketball team. 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. 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. 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. Having worked at a Safeway supermarket, Starks enrolled at Tulsa Junior College in the summer of 1986 to pursue a business degree. 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.

Career

Golden State Warriors

Although he was passed over 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. Starks was cut following the end of the season.

Other Leagues

He played stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets, 1989-90) and World Basketball League (Memphis Rockers, 1990-91).

New York Knicks

Starks was able to work his way back into the NBA. 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 him. As a result, Starks has referred to Ewing as his saving grace. He eventually became the starting shooting guard, becoming a key player on the team and playing 8 seasons in New York from 1990-98. Starks was a posterchild 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 was at the center of one of the most famous plays in Knicks history, which has now become known simply as "The Dunk". In Game 2 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals 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 drove along the baseline and dunked over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan with his left hand.

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 3. At the time, the NBA allowed only 2 free throws during a foul on a 3-pointer. Starks made both, but Houston won 93-89 (the league would change the rule to allow 3 free throws the next season). Starks and the Knicks then watched 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 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 3-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, 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 Stark's 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.

Return to Golden State

A couple of years later, Starks was traded back to his original team, the Golden State Warriors.

Chicago Bulls

After his second stint with the Warriors, Starks played for the Chicago Bulls.

Utah Jazz

Starks finished his career with the Utah Jazz.

Later career and retirement

After his stint with Golden State, Starks played for the 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. 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.

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 plays like "The Dunk", made Starks into a great crowd favorite in New York. 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). 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 Stephen Curry, who continues to shatter the record during the 2015-2016 season.

Personal life

Starks' mother was one-quarter Muscogee. On December 13, 1986, John Starks married his wife Jackie. Their son John Jr. was born in 1987, and they have two daughters, Chelsea and Tiara Starks.

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	Golden State	36	0	8.8	.408	.385	.654	1.1	.8	.6	.1	4.1
1990-1991	New York	61	10	19.2	.439	.290	.752	2.1	3.3	1.0	.3	7.6
1991-1992	New York	82	0	25.8	.449	.348	.778	2.3	3.4	1.3	.2	13.9
1992-1993	New York	80	51	31.0	.428	.321	.795	2.6	5.1	1.1	.2	17.5
1993-1994	New York	59	54	34.9	.420	.335	.754	3.1	5.9	1.6	.1	19.0
1994-1995	New York	80	78	34.1	.395	.355	.737	2.7	5.1	1.2	.1	15.3
1995-1996	New York	81	71	30.8	.443	.361	.753	2.9	3.9	1.3	.1	12.6
1996-1997	New York	77	1	26.5	.431	.369	.769	2.7	2.8	1.2	.1	13.8
1997-1998	New York	82	10	26.7	.393	.327	.787	2.8	2.7	1.0	.1	12.9
1998-1999	Golden State	50	50	33.7	.370	.290	.740	3.3	4.7	1.4	.1	13.8
1999-2000	Golden State	33	30	33.6	.378	.348	.833	2.8	5.2	1.1	.1	14.7
1999-2000	Chicago	4	0	20.5	.324	.300	1.000	2.5	2.8	1.3	.3	7.5
2000-2001	Utah	75	64	28.3	.398	.352	.802	2.1	2.4	1.0	.1	9.3
2001-2002	Utah	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	12.9

[ Source: Wikipedia ]