Warriors’ Stephen Curry ‘wanted to go to New York’ Knicks in 2009 NBA Draft

When Warriors superstar Stephen Curry steps on the floor, it’s accepted that you must expect the unexpected.

Ever since Curry’s breakout 54-point performance against the Knicks in 2013, those expectations are somehow even higher when he takes the floor at Madison Square Garden, also known as The Mecca of Basketball. But could you imagine a universe in which Curry suited up at MSG 41 times a year?

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Ahead of the 2009 NBA Draft, Curry had a strong desire for that to be his reality.

(Knicks fans, look away.)

In January of 2020, Curry appeared on Showtime’s “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, where he opened up about his draft night thoughts with respect to the Knicks.

“When I got drafted,” Curry began. “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.'”

While he wasn’t a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school, Curry made quite the name for himself during his time at Davidson College. After averaging 28.6 points and 5.6 assists during his junior season, Curry was projected to be a top-10 pick by all pundits.

Slated behind prospects such as Blake Griffin, James Harden and Tyreke Evans, it was assumed that Curry could land at fifth or sixth to the Timberwolves, seventh to the Warriors or eighth to the Knicks.

According to Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, who was Golden State’s assistant GM from 2004-2017, Curry’s representation also wanted him to be a Knick, going as far as sending a text message that read, “please don’t take Steph.”

In a 2015 story for Yahoo Sports, Marc Spears of The Undefeated shared how the same sentiment was also held by Steph’s father, Dell, who also believed that New York was the right place for his son, not Golden State.

Still, Riley didn’t shy away from keying in on Curry, prompting the Warriors to take him at seventh with no hesitation.

The rest, as they say, is history.

2009 NBA Draft order

Stephen Curry at Madison Square Garden

Curry has played at Madison Square Garden 10 times in his NBA career. The Warriors have posted a 9-1 record. The one loss? Curry’s breakout 54-point performance during the 2012-13 season.

Including his MSG debut, in which he was scoreless in three minutes of action, Curry is averaging 25.9 points in 10 career road games against the Knicks, doing so while shooting 51.1 percent from 3 point range.

The last time Curry played at Madison Square Garden was Feb. 23, 2021, when he finished with 37 points, six rebounds and six assists, shooting 7-for-14 from 3-point range and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line.

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