NBA: John Starks Almost Repeated His Iconic Dunk On Michael Jordan Against Pacers

New York Knicks legend John Starks almost repeated the same dunk he did on Michael Jordan and the Bulls against the Pacers.

During the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals, Starks threw a lefthanded slam against the Chicago Bulls. With just over 50 seconds remaining in a three-point game, Starks took the ball up dunked on Jordan and a number of Bulls players.

The iconic dunk went on to become known in the NBA as “The Dunk.” And Starks revealed that 25 years ago, there was a game when he almost did the same dunk.

In a recent interview during the promotion of Madison Square Garden All Access Tours, Starks uncovered how “The Dunk” almost happened against their Eastern Conference rivals Indiana Pacers.

According to Starks, he was already thinking about it before even driving to basket but as soon as he jumped, he realized he didn’t have enough “hops” to dunk the ball in, Metro reported.

“Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers. The game was on the line and I was just coming off a knee surgery and I remember I had a pick and roll with me and Patrick [Ewing]. In my mind I’m trying to recreate ‘the dunk’ again, I was seeing the same thing happening,” Starks recalled.

“I went up and the hops weren’t there! I went up against Dale Davis. I was going to go up left and I had to change it and all I could do was get it up off the board and I missed the shot,” Starks revealed.

The Knicks legend also noted that they were very lucky that Patrick Ewing was there to clean up his mess.

“Here comes Patrick, out of nowhere, to save me and dunk it back in,” Starks said.

Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks have had historic playoff rivalries during the 90’s. As shooting guards, Starks and Pacers legend Reggie Miller shared a lot of memories battling each other inside the court.

Miller and Starks matched up 56 times in their careers, 33 times in the regular season and 23 times in the playoffs. Looking back at his rivalry with Miller, Starks revealed that guarding the former Pacers star was his toughest assignment back then.

Starks also emphasized that Miller loved being a villain especially against the Knicks, Indy Star reported.

He was special in that way. He liked being the villain. Most guys don’t like that role, especially in the modern NBA. But Reggie embraced it . I think that’s what made him special when he came to the Garden,” Starks said.