Quotes from John Starks

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.

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.

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.

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.

Obviously dunking on Horace Grant and Michael, in those circumstances, is just an incredible thing to happen. I'm happy I was able to make that play, and I'm fortunate I was in that position where I could make that happen for my team.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.