John Starks Quotes

A lot of kids were involved in such things as smoking weed and doing things illegal. I kind of fell into the crowd so to speak. Guys got tangled in some of those activities, and like I said I should have stayed away from it.

That was always a dream of mine to play division one basketball. Not knowing that I wasn't going to get the opportunity because of my past and previous couple of years in college. The opportunity to play with only one year of eligibility was great.

Michael Jordan makes you bring your game to another level. That's why I loved competing against him.

Spending time in jail really helped me stay away from what my brother did because I got a taste of jail time. I realized this isn't the life I want to live being locked up 24 hours a day.

It was a good opportunity for me to wear a NBA jersey. The Golden State Warriors gave me an opportunity to come in and play for them. I was very appreciative of that.

Coach [Pat] Riley's record speaks for itself. What makes him so special is he is a coach clearly concerned about winning. His whole thinking when he wakes up every day is how can I make this team [ New York Knicks] more focused and going through 82 games during the regular season and the playoffs.

My favorite Knicks moment was when we beat Indiana in Game 7 to reach the NBA Finals. We worked so hard as a team to reach that moment that it was very satisfying to beat Indiana and reach the Finals.

That's a dream of mine, to be able to coach at the NBA level.

Michael Jordan was a great individual and a great player. You can't say enough about what he brought to the game. He took the NBA to another level.

I enjoyed my time in Utah. It was a different area to what I was used to. The people there were very nice and it was a great organization and city. I have only good things to say about Utah.

I only had one year of eligibility and I wasn't getting many offers from other schools. I jumped on it to make a mark. That was the most wise decision I made coming out of Oklahoma junior college.

You look at the assistant coaches under [Pat Riley] that played and they have become prosperous within this game. It triples all the way down from the assistant players to the coaches. Patrick Ewing went into coaching as well as myself.

Me and Spike Lee are good friends. I got a lot of respect for Spike just because of who he is, what he stands for, and the support for that organization. Even when it was bad he was there.

We hated to see Coach Riley go. Coach Riley is a very smart individual and he knows his coaching style. He also knows how long to stay with it and move on. He is a very demanding individual. When you coach at that level like that it tends to whirl the players.

There were butterflies, otherwise, you're not really ready to play. The locker room, I remember, was quiet and we were very focused on playing that game.

I want to thank all the fans for their support over the years. Keep supporting the Knicks, we're moving in the right direction here and we will be exciting to watch and competing against the best in the NBA. Come back to the Garden for those exciting games.

New York is a different breed than any other city there is. Media can be very hard on you at times, but [Patrick Ewing] did handle it like a man. He was able to prosper in that whole atmosphere.

He was a great individual. People that don't know Patrick [Ewing] and only see what they read in the paper don't know this is a man of great integrity, love for his teammates, and love for this organization.

To me coming up short as a team and for me not having a great particular game was tough to swallow, but your life doesn't end there. You must put your life into perspective and keep moving on.

There were mistakes that I made that I did learn from. When you don't have responsibilities, the only responsibility is for yourself, but when you have someone there to mentor you, then you don't make stupid mistakes.

It was a lot of fun playing against one of the best players to ever play this game in Michael Jordan. For me it was a dream to play against him night in and night out in the NBA with the New York Knicks.

[Spike Lee ] went to a game six playoff game at Indiana which was a hostile environment believing we could bring it back to New York for a game seven. That's just the kind of person he is. Also his commitment to the team and our friendship.

Also to have someone tell you when you can come and go. When I was faced with that decision, I just drew back on all my past decisions and especially my time in jail that this isn't the road I want to go down. That's why I really made a commitment towards school.

I had a lot of maturing I had to go through. I consider myself a smart individual in seeing that this is not the road I want to take.

I know that once I get a good rhythm and a good feel, no one can stop me.

It was tough [to move to the Golden State Warriors] because of my success level in New York. To leave this city and go out west and move my family was tough, but this is part of the business. Something as a player that might happen to you.

Playing with John Stockton and Karl Malone was great. It was obviously a thrill to play with.Those two were committed to winning and were a stable of their organization for so long. You can't say enough about how they approached the game night in and night out.

As a young man, you get to a point in your life where you feel like you have grown up and have to make decisions and not having that father figure in your life to guide you to making those decisions.

Pit Riley had a lasting effect on us as players and the coaching staff.

As a player you can have a bad game and come back for the next game. As a coach you really can't do that. You have to dissect games night in and night out and figure what you did wrong.

Not having a father helping you grow into manhood and teaching you those things about how to be a man hurts. It hurt my brothers because their fathers weren't involved in their lives.

I don't want to blame it on not having a father figure in my life, but that has a lot to do with it too.

I think the media makes it tough to play in New York. There are so many papers and TV channels covering the Knicks and the expectations for the Knicks are so high.

I think when you saw this year's playoffs, Miami and Detroit have a pretty fierce rivalry now. Also, the Suns and San Antonio look like they're starting to develop something there. I look forward to seeing those rivalries continue and develop.

[Being a coach] is totally different, but I have a new level of respect for coaching that I didn't as a player. So much is expected of you and from your team. Everything falls on your shoulders.

At that time we didn't have much movement within our team. [ Pit Riley] pushed us as much as he could from a mental stand point. He knew it was time to leave and for us as players we knew it was time to part ways.