From 1990 to 1998, John Starks was a rugged Shooting Guard for the New York Knicks. The same year Starks earned an All-Star nod amidst a New York Knicks push to the top of the Eastern Conference, The Notorious B.I.G released his debut, Ready To Die.

By the time Biggie released his sophomore LP, Life After Death, in March of 1997, Starks was still a Knick. The album included the Buckwild & Chucky Thompson-produced closer to Disc 1, “I Got A Story To Tell.” Within the track, an especially cold Christopher Wallace alluded to a triste with a woman associated with a player from the New York Knicks. Many Heads speculated that the lyric (and extensive chatter at the end of the song) was a subliminal confirmation (mentioning a 6’5″ Knick, which John was) of an extra-marital affair surrounding Starks’ wife. “The shit she kicked, all the shit’s legit / She get dick from a player off the New York Knicks.”

In what appeared to be a casual sit-down interview with “Highly Questionable,” Starks recalled his rags-to-riches story from bagging groceries to heading to the NBA for nearly 15 years.  He went in depth into his own views of his famed 1993 dunk on His Airness, Michael Jordan. But then—in the weirdest, most persistent way, Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones gave John the full-court press on Biggie’s lyric.

Vehemently denying his association, it’s interesting to watch Starks respect the G-Code. One thing he does say… is that Biggie wasn’t lying, not one bit.

Think another ’90s great, Jose Canseco, could learn a thing or two from John Starks?

Related: The Notorious B.I.G’s Ready To Die 20 Years Later, The Best Of All Worlds (Food For Thought)