3. What if John Starks didn’t blow it in Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals?
To kick things off we have not only one of the worst performances in Knicks history but one of the worst NBA Finals performances the league has ever seen. While John Starks was far from the only disappointing player in this game/series, he easily had the worst performance that took the Knicks’ chances of winning another championship away.
In 42 minutes of play, Starks scored just eight points on 2-of-18 shooting from the field and an astounding 0-of-11 from deep. Among these shots were three missed shots from beyond the arc with under 40 seconds left that could have won the Knicks the game, including a horrific airball three with 24 seconds on the clock.
Now, Starks isn’t to blame for the way the series went, as again, players like Patrick Ewing were rather disappointing, however, you can’t help but think that if he had just hit TWO of his 11 three-point attempts, New York could be a three-time championship team as opposed to two.
This isn’t shade towards Starks, as his play in this series kept the Knicks in it at times, especially in Game 6. Alongside this, Starks has one of the best stories the league has ever seen, so shoutout to him.
It’s incredibly unfortunate that Game 7 went how it did because if Starks played better, he would have glorified his name in Knicks history more than it already is. Instead, fans were unable to see their team win another championship, which is something that still hasn’t been accomplished since.