John Starks
John Starks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States on August 10th, 1965 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 58, John Starks biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 58 years old, John Starks has this physical status:
John Levell Starks (born August 10, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball guard.
During his NBA career, the actor was listed at 6'3" and 190 pounds.
Despite being undrafted in the 1988 NBA draft after attending four colleges in Oklahoma, including Oklahoma State University, he rose to 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. The Starks, who lived in Tulsa Central, had only been on the basketball team for one year.
He attended Rogers State College in 1984 after high school. While at Rogers State University as a member of the "taxi squad" 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 barred from Rogers State for stealing another student's stereo equipment in retaliation for the student's admission to Starks' dorm room and the college's financial responsibility for the injury. In spring 1985, the starks joined Northern Oklahoma College, coached the basketball team there, and was sentenced to five days in prison for the robbery. He completed his term during spring break. In 1985, the Starks averaged 11 points per game with Northern Oklahoma, but they were forced to leave the program after being caught smoking marijuana in his dorm. Starks enrolled at Tulsa Junior College in 1986 to study a business degree after working at a Safeway supermarket. When playing intramural basketball, he caught Ken Trickey, Oral Roberts University's former coach, who was then beginning a basketball program for Oklahoma Junior College. The stars appeared on for a season before receiving a scholarship at Oklahoma State University in 1988, where he began his collegiate career.
Personal life
The mother of Starks was a quarter Muscogee.
John Starks married Jackie Starks on December 13, 1986. They have one son and two daughters.
Career
Undrafted 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 played stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets, 1989–90) and World Basketball League (Memphis Rockers, 1990–91).
In 1990, Starks 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. 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. 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 executed one of the most famous plays in Knicks history, a play that became known simply as "The Dunk". In Game 2 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Starks was in the court's right corner, and closely guarded by B. J. Armstrong. Ewing came to set a screen for 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.
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 three, Starks was fouled by Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon while attempting a three-pointer. At the time, the NBA allowed only two free throws during a foul on a three-pointer. Starks made both, but Houston won 93–89 (the league would change the rule to allow three 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 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter. The Rockets went on to win the game and the championship.
In 1995, Starks became the first player to hit 200 three pointers in a single season. In the offseason, 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 Starks' 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.
On February 18, 1997, Starks hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat the Phoenix Suns at home 95–94. On the play, he rebounded an Allan Houston missed three while getting to the three-point line and head-faked the Suns Wesley Person before releasing the shot just as the horn sounded. Replays were inconclusive as to whether the shot was released in time, but the basket stood. This may have been the most dramatic regular season moment of Starks' career, as it was his only buzzer beater to win an NBA game.
In January 1999, Starks was traded back to his original team, the Golden State Warriors. Starks was traded along with Chris Mills and Terry Cummings in exchange for Latrell Sprewell. Starks remained with the Warriors until February 2000, when he was traded to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team trade.
Starks played for the Chicago Bulls for 4 games in the 1999–2000 season.
Starks finished his career with the Utah Jazz, playing for the Jazz from 2000–01 to 2001–02.
Later career and retirement
After his stint with Golden State, Starks played for the Chicago 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. He was head coach of the Westchester Wildfire during the 2003 United States Basketball League season. 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.
John Starks owns a Kia dealership, John Starks Kia, in the Briarwood neighborhood of Jamaica, NY.