NBA Great John Starks' CBA Stint Included Truck Stop Meals, Cheap Buffets, Bus Rides

Troy Hudson | Jan 8, 2025

May 7, 1997; Miami, FL; USA; FILE PHOTO; New York Knicks guard John Starks (3) on the court against the Miami Heat during the second round of the 1997 NBA Playoffs at the Miami Arena. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-Imagn Images / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

At first, New York Knicks great John Starks got to experience the finer things during his early experiences in the Continental Basketball Association.

This was long before he faced Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden. Starks had to fight his way from the CBA before finally getting an NBA opportunty.

After flaming out with the Golden State Warriors in 1988, his path back began with the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets. The league was full of teams on low budgets. Players were given a $25 per diem. They ate mostly at truck stops or All-You-Can-Eat joints in some of the smallest cities in Middle America.

The Rockford (Ill.) Lightning. The Omaha Racers. The Rapid City Thrillers.

But Starks lucked out. All of the teams traveled via bus except for one.

"With us, because I went to Cedar Rapids, our owner had their own plane," Starks said in an interview with Back In The Day Hoops On SI. "It was a little different for me. Teams started to complain that we had an unfair advantage, so they had to switch it up. We started taking buses."

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Starks survived one season in Cedar Rapids, or as he calls the "coldest place in America" before receiving his big break with the New York Knicks in 1990. He turned the opportunity into a solid NBA career that included one All-Star appearance (1994) and a Sixth Man of the Year award (1997).

His career ended a long way from the "humbling" beginning.

"I looked at the CBA as an opportunity for me to hone my skills," Starks said. "I didn't go down there with the mentality that, `Hey, I was just up in the big leagues. Now I'm down here in the minor leagues. I went down with a plan. I knew that I wasn't going to be down there long but I needed to work on some things that I needed to work on to get better. That was my mentality. Every day, I put in the work because I saw what it took to make the next level." 

Troy Hudson is a contributor to Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at troyehudson@gmail.com

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