Making its debut at the Orlando International Film Festival, “Keep Shooting” highlights the trials, triumphs, and continuing vision of NBA legend John Starks. | Photo Courtesy of TulsaWorld

Few can forget the rise of NBA legend John Starks from his youth at Tulsa’s Central High School and Oklahoma State University to his legendary run with the New York Knicks in the 90s. From the lows of a crushing game 7 loss in the 1993 NBA finals to highs of making the All-Star team and winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, Starks has made the world proud with his on-court success and continuing off-court philanthropy through the John Starks Foundation. 

For the past fourteen years, Starks has continued his career beyond his retirement from the NBA in 2002 with an additional role as Alumni Relations Advisor to the New York Knicks since 2004. 

Now there’s an additional reason to follow Stark’s journey: After a decade-long production, Stark’s life story is coming to life in the newly-released documentary, “Keep Shooting: The John Starks Story,” which premiered live at the second annual Orlando International Film Festival (OIFF) back in May of this year and by popular demand enjoyed an additional showing in his home town of Tulsa at this year’s Tulsa Film Festival in July. 

Produced by Leigh Simons, president of JD3TV, (www.jd3tv.com) and Dr. James Dentley, CEO of JD3TV, the film depicts the unlikely emergence of Starks from bagging groceries in a Tulsa grocery store for minimum wage to entry in the NBA as an undrafted player with minimal high school and college playing experience. From here, he became one of the greatest players in NY Knick history. 

Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Playoffs: “The Dunk”

To this day, perhaps one of the most memorable moments in NBA history was “The Dunk” in Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Playoffs against the Chicago Bulls. Stark’s game-changing left-handed, soaring slam and dunk over Michael Jordan and Horace Grant was one of the most famous moments in NBA history.  

One year later, in the 1994 Game 6 of the Finals, Starks scored 16 fourth-quarter points in an attempt to lead the Knicks to a come-from-behind victory over the Houston Rockets and deliver The Big Apple their first NBA championship in 23 years. But Hakeem Olajuwon blocked his attempt, closing Starks’ claim to NBA and NY Knick immortality in the final seconds. Following this hair’s-breadth loss, in Game 7, he suffered the worst game of his career, shooting 2-18, and the Rockets won the championship.

Unpacking “Keep Shooting”

Decades later, “Keep Shooting” documents Starks’ return to the scene of the worst moment in his career at the old home of the Houston Rockets that has now become Lakeview Church, under the direction of Pastor Joel Osteen. In one of the film’s most pivotal scenes, Starks and Osteen shoot hoops together as they discuss not his victories, but the ways the worst moment in Starks’ career compelled him to soar to even greater heights in the years that followed.

While the documentary challenged Starks in the retelling and sharing of every detail of his personal story, it fulfills a vital mission for him in helping to provide others who have experienced extreme challenges and disappointments to persist, to rise higher, and to have the opportunity to excel and be heard.  

You can watch the trailer for “Keep Shooting” below:

PopWrapped sat down for an exclusive interview with Starks ahead of the documentary’s debut at the Orlando International Film Festival. 

“I have to thank the film’s producer, Leigh Simons for this opportunity, to be honest,” Starks told PopWrapped. “I remember Leigh asking me to lunch for one of his friends who was battling cancer, and asked me to be in this film. Leigh had read my 2004 book and thought it would be a great idea to share my message on film.”

“One of the things I noticed about John is his resilience in every aspect of life. Without it, this movie would never have happened,” Simons shared with PopWrapped. “He has always been in the ‘yes’ business. I had a friend who was battling cancer at the time, and we called the Foundation and I spoke with John. I asked him to come to lunch, and he said ‘yes.’” 

“Yes, it was challenging for John to share every detail of his personal life story, but in general, the position he has with the Knicks, the way he’s lived his life with his family, and his Foundation–the serendipity of his career–he says ‘yes’ to worthy opportunities a lot, and I think that’s a big part of his legacy that is moving forward far beyond his NBA career.”

“Starks’ life and career exemplified the power of the human spirit,” said Dr. James Dentley, CEO of JD3TV, the television platform that produced and presented the preview showing of “Keep Shooting” for the Orlando Film festival. “His story demonstrates that our dreams and goals are more than just attainable; they are awaiting those who are in the relentless pursuit of them. He teaches us to keep dreaming, keep fighting, and even when your shots are not falling, to keep on shooting!”

Andrew Rossow: Tell me about the direction this film takes with respect to your career and your 2004 book, “My Life.”

John Starks: This film tells the story about the life journey that I had to go on in order to reach the heights that I reached. It was a lot of ups and downs, with many trials and tribulations. I think the film used my book as a guide, and I would have to go back over things to help refresh my memories. I would say this film is true to its form, or we tried to keep it pretty much on the same page as the book. I think it worked out very well, but the book probably goes into a little more detail, because I was speaking in my own voice and had the time to sit down and think about it. 

Rossow: How would you define “success” today?

Starks: My journey certainly wasn’t an easy path. The most successful people truly don’t go down easy paths to be successful. I believe that to be successful, you have to go through those struggles, and to reap those rewards in the end. I had to go through many of those struggles, as did my family. 

With what’s happening in today’s society, as we are confronting social injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a struggle that we have to be able to overcome to enjoy life. In doing what I’m doing now, I had to go through those struggles, and it means so much to be able to give back now, in any ways that I can, with this message. 

“The Millennial Generation Just Gets It…and I Commend Them”

Both 2020 and 2021 have presented “generational traumas” for us, beginning with the social injustices surrounding the brutal murder of George Floyd, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. 

But the way these two generations have come together, with eyes opened, and willing to confront social injustice in its face has given individuals like Starks hope for a better future. 

“I think your generation is doing an incredible job of being part of the solution,” Starks said. “For me, I’ve seen so many people sit on the sidelines and turn a blind eye to what’s going on here in society, and I don’t think that’s the case now. I think people truly want to make this incredible country we live in a better place for us all. I take my hat off to your generation, because it’s not just one group of people fighting, but everyone is involved in this fight, which means a great deal for us all.”

Having grown up in the 60’s and 70’s, Starks emphasized that he has watched society slowly get to where we are today. “What we are seeing now, is what people like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists were trying to achieve in the sixties and seventies,” he said. “It’s all coming to fruition now, and it’s great to see that this generation ‘gets it’; they are part of this fight, and I commend them.”

Rossow: How easy was it for you when putting this film together, to show your vulnerability as it pertained to your upbringing and issues you’ve faced throughout your career?

Starks: It’s always tough when you look back on your life and really try to dissect what went wrong while attempting to relive those moments. It was hard, but Leigh kept telling me this film would help people, so I kept that in mind. Knowing that other people are also going through similar issues as the ones I went through and giving them the strength to persevere is what this is about. 

Rossow: Did you and Leigh work closely together throughout this project?

Starks: Definitely. He would send things over to me all the time, but truthfully, it took me a while to revisit some of these moments of my life again, you know? Sometimes you want to hide those memories, keep them inside of you – but over time, they kind of eat away at you. Sometimes, it’s just cathartic to let it out and look at things in a different light, which can really, truly help you from a mental standpoint. And this film does that for me. I’m excited about it and glad we were able to get it complete. Leigh was very diligent and I was excited to see it debut at the Orlando International Film Festival – and we’ve been very excited about the reactions we’ve been receiving to the film ever since. 

JD3TV.COM – A New Platform for Creatives to Be Heard?

The Orlando Festival’s title sponsor, JD3TV.COM was also the provider of the “Think and Grow Rich” full feature film that was used in a study group by the famous motivational speaker, Les Brown, to focus on prosperity consciousness. 

“The interesting thing about the sun, moon, and stars lining up for this debut at the Orlando International Film Festival,” according to Simons, was that “JD3TV.COM serves as a brand new emerging streaming platform designed to be better than Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon for one particular reason – to give people who don’t normally have an outlet for distribution of their content, an outlet to be heard and seen.”

By popular demand, JD3TV also sponsored the additional showing of “Keep Shooting” in Starks’ hometown of Tulsa, at the Tulsa Film Festival in July.

The message is clear – just remember, folks, no matter what happens in your life – keep on shooting!