Knicks legend John Starks was asked some great questions by hosts Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones during his recent appearance on ESPN'S Highly Questionable. The best being if Biggie's classic song "I Got A Story to Tell" was about him.
Now, I never suspected the Knick who got robbed in the song was the former NBA All-Star and Sixth Man Award winner; I always thought it was Allan Houston...or maybe I just wanted it to be overpaid Houston. Starks wanted to make it clear it wasn't him but the story is true and he does know who the song is about. As expected, he wouldn't give us the pleasure of knowing who it is (Hubert Davis?).
Back in 2012, Jerry L Barrow of The Urban Daily did a great breakdown of the lyrics to narrow down the choices since Starks wasn't giving up the goods.
The sh*t she kicked, all the sh*t’s legit
She get d*ck from a player off the New York Knicks
N*gga tricked ridiculous, the sh*t was plush
This establishes who he was violatin’. Notorious B.IG.’s Life After Death was recorded between September of 1995 and January of 1997. So that is the window of time we’re starting with.
We f*cked in his bed, quite dangerous
I’m in his ass while he playing against the Utah Jazz
Assuming this happened in NY, the New York Knicks played the Utah Jazz at The Garden on November 12, 1995. This was the only time the Jazz played the Knicks on their home court all season. So even if you want to debate the who, this is definitely the day somebody got the bedroom intruder treatment.
My 112, CD blast, I was past
She came twice I came last, roll the grass
**112’s debut CD was released in August of 1996, but was recorded between 1995 and 1996. Did Biggie have an advance? Very possible. If Big Poppa was rolling around with theme music to smash to (remember it was HIS 112 CD) chances are it was CD-R written on with a sharpie from the studio.
I’m up in this b*tch player this b*tch fucking run them old Knick ass n*ggas and shit,
I’m up in the spot though. One of them six-five n*ggas, I don’t know.
Ok, here is the one clue that can help narrow down the suspects. The Knicks roster from 1996 to 1997 listed two players at 6’6″; Allan Houston and Larry Johnson–no one at 6’5″. However, during the1995-1996 season there was only ONE player listed at 6’5…Hubert Davis.
During the aforementioned game in November of ’95 Hubert Davis only played for 9 minutes, scoring 4 points on one bucket and two free throws. Davis was a 3-pt specialist that averaged 10pts per game that season. This subpar performance makes “The Maestro” the most likely Knickerbocker to leave the locker room early after the game and head home to be consoled by his wife. Boy was he wrong.
OK. Let's go with Hubert Davis! This song is for you!
UPDATE: WAIT A MINUTE....
On a 2016 episode of the Highly Questionable, guest rapper Fat Joe (who was a much better rapper during the 90s) answered the question: It was Anthony “Can guard any position” Mason, who was also featured in the video "Best Kept Secret" by underrated 90's rapper Diamond D.
BIGGIE & THE NBA
Old school NBA and Biggie fans might remember the first time many of us heard of Biggie was on the original NBA Jam VHS tape. The last track on the mixtape, called Jam Session, featured a rapper named Troo-Kula, the late Heavy D and another late great fat rapper going by the name of Biggie Smalls.
Also in 1993, Biggie made a more memorable appearance on the Supercat remix of Dolly My Baby, which features Puffy in a Shaq jersey delivering one of the worst verses in hip-hop history. Thankfully, Biggie made us forget about it by delivering his first classic verse.
Then in 1996, Shaq dropped the underrated single You Can't Stop The Reign featuring Biggie and a cool sample from the group Loose Ends.
STARKS ON MJ
One last thing about the John Starks interview. The first question was about John Starks' infamous dunk from Tuesday, May 25th of 1993 "on" Michael Jordan and if he owned any posters of it. He said he had a painting of it. What I have is a very interesting item featuring that dunk. You might notice something, or should I say someone, is missing from that item.
Unlike the Biggie song, this isn't that big of a mystery. Upper Deck had an exclusive contract with Jordan that prevented other companies from using his image even if they had a NBA license. This is also why Jordan isn't in 90's videos games like NBA Jam and NBA Live.
Anyways, here's video footage of the infamous dunk followed by a short interview with the guy who went undrafted in 1988, tried out for the Knicks in 1990, made the All-Defensive Team in 1993, All-Star team in 1994 and became the first player with 200 threes in a season in 1995.