Former Knicks player John Starks talks about guarding Michael Jordan (Video)

Eddie Mata has created a YouTube channel called “Where Are They now?” and he interviews former professional athletes about their playing days and what their doing since their sports career came to an end.

In a New Year’s Day episode, Mata started off with an interview with former New York Knicks legend John Starks. Specifically they discuss playing against Hall of Famer and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. One interesting point was that Michael Jordan only talked trash if talked to, and that he told rookies they’d be calling him “Mr. Jordan” by the end of the night.

Starks said his first game against Chicago he played really well against Jordan. Which is interesting, because stats show other wise. Starks didn’t play Jordan until he was with the Knicks in the 1990-91 season. In the first game the Knicks lost and Jordan scored 33 points. Starks played a reserve role, only making it on the quart for 10 minutes and scoring four points. In their second meeting, Starks started playing 21 minutes scoring seven points while Jordan scored another 34 points in a Bulls win.

Of course the stat line isn’t indicative of how he played and how much time he spent guarding or playing against Jordan specifically. Starks said he told Jordan that he didn’t get “Mr. Jordan” out of him at the end of the night.

It was fascinating listen to Starks talk about how he studied Jordan before their match ups.