29 Facts About John Starks

John Levell Starks was born on August 10,1965 and is an American former professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association.

John Starks was undrafted in the 1988 NBA draft after attending four colleges in his native Oklahoma, including Oklahoma State University.

John Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he attended Tulsa Central High School.

At Tulsa Central, John Starks played only one year on the basketball team.

However, John Starks was expelled from Rogers State for stealing another student's stereo equipment in retaliation for the student breaking into John Starks' dorm room and the college holding him and his roommates financially responsible for the damage.

John 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.

John Starks played there for a season, then earned a scholarship at Oklahoma State University in 1988, where he finished his collegiate career.

Undrafted in the 1988 NBA draft, John 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, John Starks played limited minutes in only 36 games while Richmond won Rookie of the Year.

John Starks played stints in the Continental Basketball Association and World Basketball League.

John Starks eventually became the starting shooting guard, becoming a key player on the team and playing eight seasons in New York, from 1990 to 1998.

John Starks was a poster child for their physical play during that era, along with teammates Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley.

John Starks was a participant in the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

John Starks executed a famous play that became known simply as "The Dunk".

Ewing came to set a screen for John Starks, who faked to the left, as if to exploit the screen, but then drove along the baseline and, with his left hand, dunked over Horace Grant as Jordan came over to help.

One of the low points of John Starks' career came in the 1994 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets.

In Game 7, John Starks had one of the worst games of his career, shooting 2-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter.

In 1995, John Starks became the first player to hit 200 three pointers in a single season.

John Starks was a steady contributor off the bench and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in 1997.

In January 1999, John Starks was traded back to his original team, the Golden State Warriors, along with Chris Mills and Terry Cummings, in exchange for Latrell Sprewell.

John Starks remained with the Warriors until February 2000, when he was traded to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team trade that sent Billy Owens and Larry Hughes to the Warriors.

The matter went to arbitrator who ruled that John Starks could be released without pay, but would not be eligible for the playoffs with another team.

John Starks finished his career with the Utah Jazz, playing for the franchise from 2000 to 2002.

John Starks has served as the head coach of the Maulers, a Slamball team.

John Starks was head coach of the Westchester Wildfire during the 2003 United States Basketball League season.

John 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.

John Starks is the Knicks' all-time leader in three point field goals.

John Starks is mentioned by surname in A Tribe Called Quest's song "8 Million Stories" on Midnight Marauders and in Beastie Boys' "Get It Together" off Ill Communication.

On December 13,1986, John Starks married his wife Jackie.