Golden State wasn’t on Steph Curry’s radar heading to the 2009 NBA Draft.
Stephen Curry has won two MVP awards and four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors. He is the player who put the team on the NBA map.
But before he was picked by Golden State, Steph said the Dubs were “not on his radar”. Instead of going West, he said he was looking at going to the Eastern Conference.
“When I got drafted,” Curry said. “It’s kind of funny thinking back – I wanted to go to New York and thought I was going to New York.”
He continued, adding “I was at the draft, in the green room like ‘Oh, we’ll get to the eighth spot, New York will get me.’ Then I got the call from (Warriors GM) Larry Riley, like ‘alright we’re going to pick you in the seventh spot.'”
Dell wanted Steph to go to the Knicks
It wasn’t just Steph who wanted to go to New York. His father Dell later told Marc Stein that it was very true that they wanted Steph to end up in New York.
In a separate interview with NBC Sports, Dell recalled telling Golden State’s Don Nelson to pass up on Steph.
“We got back to draft day, I remember Don Nelson calling me and saying, ‘Hey, what’s your feelings toward us drafting your son?'” said Dell. “I said, ‘Don’t. You ask me the question, I’m going to tell you the truth. Don’t.’ The conversation went on and he said, ‘Well if we get the opportunity we’re going to do it.’ I said, ‘Coach, that’s your decision.'”
“We just thought his game fit a better team, a better scenario,” Added Dell Curry. “The way another team was playing. Up and down, faster, and had a better locker room.”
Knicks wanted Curry so bad
The feeling would have been mutual in New York because the Knicks wanted Curry so bad, that head coach at the time, Mike D’Antoni, said that he could taste it. The Knicks were picking 8th in the draft and would have taken Steph if the Warriors did not select him. But they did.
What made things more disappointing according to D’Antoni was the fact that the Knicks had the opportunity to move up to 5th in the draft so they could ensure that they would get Curry.
However, Minnesota reportedly asked for a roster player to trade the 5th pick for the 8th pick. Unfortunately, Knicks management was confident that no team would pick Curry before the 8th pick so they refused that offer. The Knicks surely regret that decision now.
With the 8th pick, the Knicks ended up selecting Arizona forward Jordan Hill whom they traded 25 games into his rookie season. Meanwhile, we all know what happened to Steph Curry’s career. And as a double-black eye to the Knicks, it was in Madison Square Garden where he officially made the leap to the ranks of the elites when he lit up the Knicks for 54 points in 2013.
