Stephen Curry Could Have Been a New York Knick If the Guard’s Agent and Father Got Their Way

Stephen Curry has been a staple in the Warriors franchise since 2013, when he became their first NBA MVP. However, it wasn’t until this season that Steph’s father Dell and agent Jeff Austin got to see his potential as an elite player by way of social media. The Golden State guard could have ended up on the New York Knicks if they had gotten their wish but instead he landed with one of basketball’s most historic franchises

“Stephen Curry Could Have Been a New York Knick If the Guard’s Agent and Father Got Their Way” is a story about Stephen Curry, who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2009. The article talks about how his father and agent got together to try and convince him to sign with the Knicks instead of the Warriors.

On Dec. 14, Stephen Curry travels to one of his favorite road venues in the hopes of breaking Ray Allen’s NBA career record with two 3-pointers. If Curry sets the record against the New York Knicks, it will be rather appropriate. Curry’s breakthrough performance came at MSG. And it’s where Curry would have set up his practice if those close to the two-time NBA MVP had gotten their way.

Curry was a top prospect in the guard-heavy 2009 NBA Draft. He just wasn’t the best option. Blake Griffin of Oklahoma was the unanimous No. 1 choice in mock drafts, with Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut coming in second (hey, one out of two ain’t bad). Curry’s question wasn’t whether or whether he would fall. Instead, the question was how far he would sink.

With a plethora of guards, Stephen Curry was in the mix.

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After his junior year at Davidson College, Stephen Curry joined the NBA draft. With 28.6 points per game, he topped the country in scoring. However, there were a slew of additional backcourt prospects in the 2009 NBA Draft pool.

James Harden of Arizona State drew a lot of attention. Tyreke Evans of Memphis and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn did the same. There were a few of mysterious foreign males in the draft. Ricky Rubio, a Spaniard, was a curiosity, while Brandon Jennings, a native of Compton, California, broke tradition by bypassing his freshman year of college and instead went to Italy.

Wings and point guards, on the other hand, were all over the draft board. In the 2009 draft class, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Williams, Gerald Henderson, Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, and Eric Maynor provided an abundance of backcourt riches.

Curry’s stature and strength have been questioned. As the son of NBA Sixth Man of the Year Dell Curry, he had an NBA pedigree. However, rumors of an ankle issue followed the Davidson star.

The New York Knicks were Stephen Curry’s father and agent’s first choice.

Before the 2009 NBA Draft, Stephen Curry aspired to play for the New York Knicks. Instead, as a Golden State Warrior, he’s consistently burned them. | Getty Images/Jim McIsaac

Donnie Walsh, the president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks, attended his second NBA Draft party in 2009. The native New Yorker was enticed away from the Indiana Pacers in order to clean up Isiah Thomas’ mess.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Stephen Curry’s team was doing all it could to guarantee that their player was still on the board when the Knicks selected him eighth overall in the first round. Curry aspired to play in Mike D’Antoni’s high-octane offense in New York.

Larry Riley, the general manager of the Golden State Warriors, recalls multiple calls from Dell Curry and Stephen Curry’s agent, Jeff Austin:

“Both Steph’s father and his agent made it clear that they didn’t want us to choose him.” I took a calculated risk. [Their appeal] caused us to pause and consider the consequences of drafting him. We completely grasped their point of view. We weren’t in the best of situations to begin with.”

Former Warriors general manager Larry Riley

The Curry entourage seems to have frightened Minnesota Timberwolves general manager David Kahn away from his team’s fifth and sixth round picks (Minnesota also had the No. 18 and No. 28 selections in the first round).

The rush on guards began when Griffin and Thabeet went first and second, as predicted. Harden was selected third overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Evans was selected fourth overall by the Sacramento Kings.

After then, Kahn defied logic. With the fifth choice, he selected Rubio, a point guard. Then, at No. 6, Kahn selected another point guard, Flynn. Later that night, Kahn went for the trifecta by selecting Lawson with the 18th selection.

The Warriors were now on the clock, while the Knicks awaited their turn. Curry was taken by Riley. Arizona forward Jordan Hill was chosen by New York.

As they say, the rest is history.

Curry has made the New York Knicks’ lives a living hell.

Stephen Curry declared his arrival as a true NBA star on February 27, 2013. Curry was an All-Star snub in 2013, despite scoring 21.0 points per game and shooting 44.7 percent from 3-point range for the substantially better Warriors.

The New York Knicks paid the price about two weeks later. Curry scored 54 points in a nationally broadcast contest at Madison Square Garden, hitting 11-of-13 three-pointers. The game was won by the Knicks. Curry’s tremendous night, though, catapulted him into the NBA’s elite class.

Curry has two 30-point performances at Madison Square Garden, including 37 in a victory on February 23.

That includes a game at the Garden on Nov. 13, 2009, in which he barely played three minutes off the bench and didn’t take a shot. Coach Don Nelson joked that the youngster didn’t start because he didn’t have any tattoos, according to The Associated Press.

Despite this, Curry scores 25.9 points per game at Madison Square Garden, shooting 48.9% overall and 46.7 percent from three-point range. Meanwhile, Curry has a 9–1 record in 10 career games against the Knicks. Ironically, the lone defeat came on his most important night there.

It’s interesting to speculate what may have happened if Stephen Curry had been still available when Walsh selected him for the New York Knicks in 2009.

Basketball Reference and Stathead provided the statistics.

Draymond Green threw food at an obnoxious fan to protect Stephen Curry’s family: ‘I Just See Some Grapes Flying Over My Shoulder,’ he says.

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Stephen Curry’s grandfather was a New York Knick. But his agent and father were not. The guard could have been a Knick if the two had their way. Reference: stephen curry grandfather.

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