Steph Curry reveals he wanted to be drafted by the Knicks in 2009
Steph Curry has been in the NBA for 11 seasons, all with the Golden State Warriors, but once upon a time he was just a young college player entering the draft. Like every player who declares for the draft, he had no control of where he went, but he did have a dream team. He had one team that he hoped would pick him, and he was pretty sure he was going to land with them.
Curry, who is currently recovering from a broken left hand, went on the “All the Smoke” podcast (hosted by former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes) and revealed which team he wanted to land on — and was sure would pick him. Via For The Win:
“Thinking back, I wanted to go to New York and thought I was going to New York.”
Curry wanted to be picked by the New York Knicks, and during the 2009 draft, it almost happened. The Knicks had the 8th overall pick, and Curry was still on the board after the Minnesota Timberwolves picked 5th and 6th. The Warriors had the 7th pick, though, and we know what they did with it. They plucked Curry out of New York’s expectant grasp and the rest is history. The Knicks went with Jordan Hill instead, who didn’t even play a full season in New York before being traded.
There’s no way to know how different the Knicks might look now or what the last 10 years would have been like if they’d managed to land Curry in the 2009 draft. Getting him might have been the beginning of a new era of dominance. The Knicks could have actually put together a competitive team around Curry and turned those 2011-2013 early-round playoff losses into wins. Things could have been completely different.
Of course, landing Curry doesn’t mean James Dolan would have stopped existing. Which means Curry probably would have been ruined in some way, or traded for a handful of guys who never produced while he helped lead a different team to a cluster of championships.
So in reality, Knicks fans have nothing to mourn over missing out on Curry in the 2009 draft, even though he wanted to be in New York. With James Dolan in charge, all roads lead to the same place.
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