Dell Curry, the former NBA star point guard and father of Steph Curry, is now thankful that the New York Knicks did not draft Steph in the 2009 NBA Draft.
It’s difficult to imagine Steph Curry draped in anything but blue and gold, but there was a point in time when Curry imagined himself in blue and orange.
Speaking with NBA insider Marc Stein, Dell Curry, the longtime NBA point guard and father of the game’s most prolific 3-point shooter, spoke candidly about how the Curry camp wanted the Knicks to draft the 21-year-old Steph.
“Very true, very true, very true,” Dell confirmed when Stein questioned whether or not the Currys wanted their home to be Madison Square Garden instead of the Oracle Arena/Chase Center.
The Knicks had the No. 8 pick in the draft. The Warriors had No. 7. Former Warriors coach Don Nelson called Dell to receive his blessing in drafting his son, but Dell openly refused.
“I said, ‘No, we’d rather you not take him if he’s there because we have another place we’d like him to be,’ ” Dell Curry recounted. “He said, ‘Well, if he’s there we’re going to take him,’ and I said: ‘That’s your choice. You call me and ask me a question and I’m telling you the truth from my end.’“
Despite what the Currys wanted, Steph went to San Francisco with the No. 7 pick, and Dell couldn’t be more thankful.
“Thank God it didn’t happen,” he said.
Dell Curry on Steph Curry being drafted by the Knicks: “Thank God it didn’t happen”
Stein notes that Curry’s gratitude is not meant to denigrate the Knicks in any way, but is more an “expression of gratitude for the way things have turned out.”
Curry’s legacy as a Golden State Warrior has reached mythic proportions in his 13th year, as Curry commands love from across the league as one of its leading entertainers. Here’s an example of his allure as illustrated by Stein:
Curry had “a whole Pacers audience in his corner Monday night rooting for him to break Ray Allen’s all-time record for 3-pointers in Reggie Miller’s city.”
What Curry does and is capable of transcends team lines, commanding the respect of all those who appreciate the game of basketball. He is great to watch, and it’s difficult to imagine a world where he wasn’t this prolific. Still, an alternate reality where Curry didn’t end up with Steve Kerr, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the many others who supported his skills means that perhaps Curry wouldn’t have reached his full potential.
With the trials and errors the Knicks have seen since that 2009 NBA Draft, it’s easy to assume that the dysfunction would have affected Curry’s game.
And as far as that No. 8 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Knicks spent it on Jordan Hill, a big man who spent one year in New York before being traded away to the Pacers and faded out of the league by 2017.
The Knicks may have inevitably missed on Steph Curry, but they could have chosen another star at No. 9: DeMar DeRozan. Despite the incentive to join the NBA’s most profitable franchise, it’s probably best Curry and DeRozan had the opportunity to win championships elsewhere.