“I Tried to Take His Head Off”: Patrick Ewing Injuring John Starks in Retaliation Ironically Saved His Career

The man behind The Dunk, John Starks, is best known for his success with the New York Knicks. But all the memorable moments that occurred in the 90s surprisingly wouldn’t have happened without his injury. During his early practice with the Knicks, one of his former teammates, Patrick Ewing, injured him. But that ended up being an important part of the 1997 Sixth Man of the Year’s legendary career.

In the latest episode of The Roommates Show, Ewing recalled the incident that took place in 1990, and how it happened. Ewing detailed how Starks was supposed to be removed from the roster that day. But the rule was that the players couldn’t be released in case of an injury. And as Starks tried to dunk on him during the practice, Ewing ended up throwing him down, which twisted Starks’ knee. 

“They can’t cut you until after you get better. So he tried to dunk on me and I tried to take his head off. Fortunately but unfortunately he got hurt and by the time he got healthy and was ready to come back, all these other guys were hurt. So they had to keep him and that opened the door for him to have one of the great careers in our history,” Ewing told Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.

However, that injury saved Starks’ career as he became the starting shooting guard for the Knicks. By the time Starks’ injury healed, the Knicks were already injury-plagued. Interestingly, the incident may have happened for a different reason, but it somehow ended on a good note. There’s another incident that happened in 1993.

Patrick Ewing received a stern warning from John Starks’ mother

Starks made the mistake of head-butting Reggie Miller during a 1993 playoff game against the Indiana Pacers. It resulted in him being ejected from Game 3. This event had even bigger consequences, as the Pacers went on to win the Game, which might have gone differently otherwise.

His teammates, especially Ewing, were furious at Starks for the ejection. Ewing reprimanded him on national television, and one person who was not happy about it was Starks’ mother. In an interview with Sam Morrill, the 58-year-old shared that his mother was upset by how his teammates scolded him and asked them not to do it again.

However, Ewing was clear in his response that he would reprimand Starks again if needed. Fortunately, it never happened. The New York Knicks were able to defeat the Pacers and advance to the Conference semifinals but were stopped by Michael Jordan’s rampaging Chicago Bulls. 

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.