Today is grocery worker turned Knicks hero/goat John Starks' 46th birthday. The majority of people in the world (outside of the tri-state) are probably indifferent to Starks, but only remember two things about him: his dunk against the Bulls and his terrible game 7 of the NBA Finals. That's really all you need to know about Starks, actually. That, and he was basically a loser who couldn't crack an NBA lineup to save his life, drifting from rinky dink basketball leagues like the CBA and various training camps to eventually the ever popular "grocery bagger" storyline. He was basically Kurt Warner without the talent, wife with the lesbian haircut and of course, the championship ring.
Most Knicks fans have a love/hate relationship with number 3 or they just hate him. A lot of New Yorkers, like my brother and M@d $cientist, listed John as their favorite Knicks for years. We always heard about how he embodied everything that New Yorkers stood for. He was tough, wouldn't back down from anyone (he fought with Jordan and literally butted heads with the hated Reggie Miller) and made up for what he lacked in talent with hard work and grit. Most New York area basketball people will tell you that the Knicks fans will put up with losing as long as you work hard doing it. Lazy bums like the Knicks pre Amare and Carmelo were examples of the opposite type of player; the guy who collected a huge check but didn't earn it on the court, and Knicks fans showed their anger. Starks never had anything handed to him and worked his way to eventually being an all-star one season, the year after his shining moment in game 2 against the Bulls (I still have the poster of "the Dunk" somewhere in my parents' house). But, at the same time, Starks was an example of the type of guy who could make you scream and hurl Snapple bottles at the tv screen. Hot headed and impulsive, he'd sometimes ruin games with his temper (check out Ewing and Oakley's reactions to the Miller head butt if you can find video of it) or his relentless three point gunning. If he felt shown up by another player or he made a couple threes, you knew that the ball was going up every time it touched his hands, for better or worse. He also fed off his own bottled up energy so much, that he would sometimes psych himself out of games. Case in point: the Game 6 against Miami in 1997 that took place after half of the Knicks team was suspended for wandering off the bench, John was so jacked up off the energy of the crowd and all the hoopla, he dribbled the ball off his foot the first two times he touched the ball. This is probably what happened in game 7, and frankly, the guy deserves some hate for it. Whatever being clutch means or if it exists, we can all agree that being calm under pressure is something that all great players needed and John just didn't have it. It's unfair to expect a guy from Oklahoma who worked at the local Safeway to be the Pippen to Ewing's Jordan, but most Knicks fans would have settled for a Steve Kerr at least.
So, if you clicked on PTU today and saw that ridiculous Slam cover (sorry if I overuse the Slam covers, but there just so god damn awesome) you either said "That son of a bitch Starks! I'll never forgive him!" or said "It's Starks birthday? Who cares?"...wait, let me start over. You probably don't care either way about Starks's birthday but you most likely feel one of two ways about the guy: he's the biggest asshole ever, who ruined your youth and if he could have shot 30% in the biggest game of his life, the Knicks would have a championship in your lifetime, or you remember him as a hero of your childhood who overcame the odds and provided a great memory and poster for your bedroom. Either way, the guy is now a Knicks lifer (he works some made-up job title for the Knicks now) and we wish him a happy 46th.
Seriously, though, 2 FOR 18?!?!?!?
Fuck you Starks. Although my hate has subsided some over the years.
ReplyDeleteNot his fault, hey Riley how about me and my man Rolando Blackman get some more playing time?
ReplyDeleteYou got plenty of time, Derek. Rolando, on the other hand...uh yeah, I forgot he was on the team to be honest.
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck were we smoking back then? The haunting of an all star???
ReplyDeleteI really liked Starks but I gotta say: that was a very overrated dunk.
ReplyDeleteYou know Starks shot .412 from the field over his career? That's pretty terrible for a shooter.
ReplyDeleteYeah, like I said people liked him for his underdog story more than his talent. He was real streaky. That dunk isn't as good as a lot of famous dunks but it was a big moment in the game. Most crazy dunks happen in like the third quarter of a regular season game.
ReplyDelete@ Bottle that's better your lousy park free throw percentage.
ReplyDeleteStarks definitely was more likable before 1994...after his all-star season he got an ego and decided he needed to be the Pippen to Ewing's Jordan...which is wrong on many levels since Jordan would not have missed a finger roll in the final 3 seconds of a playoff game.
ReplyDeleteStill, I will always feel proud when remembering Starks refused to play for the Bulls in the early 2000's, saying he would never wear that hated uniform. Good to know some players had undying hatred for rivals then.
Knicks fans have been too generous to Starks. Fuck him! How the hell does someone sabotage a game 7 and still get standing O's whenever he shows up at the Garden?
ReplyDeleteI wish he stayed bagging groceries.
He definitely gets a pass that Charles Smith or some other loser doesn't because of the whole underdog bagging groceries thing, but it's hard to look past that game 7. To play devil's advocate though, he did play a great game 6 that series.
ReplyDelete@Benfat- that's kind of a shot at Ewing, I think it's safe to say that the Knicks would not even be close to a playoff spot without Pat, let alone playing in game 7's for the Conference finals so I give the big guy a pass for the finger roll.
Ewing definitely gets a pass. He had some bad moments and bad guarantees and a matted gross robe he wore in post game/locker room interviews to compliment all of that.
ReplyDeleteBut he played hurt (you have to remember the knees) with a limited supporting cast (the finger roll game was a prime example of both) and made the Knicks a perenial 45-50 win team and making it to a conference finals was almost expected.
That robe was classic.
ReplyDelete