As a player, you either loved him or hated him.

I came to love him because of “The Dunk”.

It was my senior year of high school in Nebraska when the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls faced off in the 1993 NBA Playoffs in a series that registers as an all-time classic. Forget Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for a second. That Knicks team – namely Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason – were a bunch of bruisers. And Starks was right there with them. He always played bigger than the questionable 6’5 he was listed at (as Reggie Miller saw with a headbutt from Starks) during his playing days.

“The Dunk” told the story of those physical battles between the Knics and Bulls.

B.J. Armstrong was trying to guard Starks in the right corner, until John blew by B.J. on the baseline and put it away hard in the faces of Horace Grant and Jordan. Poster. It was the high of Starks’ highs.

A year later against the Houston Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals, Starks fell hard in Game 7 going 2-18 and 0-10 in the fourth quarter as Houston took the series. It’s funny though. When I think of Starks, I don’t envision “The Clanks”.

I always remember “The Dunk”.

The History Black Series:

February 1: Muhammed Ali 

February 2: Gary Payton

February 3: Bo Jackson 

February 4: Dr. J

February 5: The Junkyard Dog

photo: loudsports

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