Story by
"We were trying to avoid them" - Steph Curry admits he didn't want the Warriors to draft him
- Story by
- "We were trying to avoid them" - Steph Curry admits he didn't want the Warriors to draft him
Draft night in 2009 was supposed to be the moment everything finally made sense for Steph Curry . Instead, it felt like everything around him was happening in slow motion. The timing and the team that called his name didn't match the script he had in his head.
"It was surreal. And I say that because when you're so close to her for your whole life, like you said you see it through his eyes. And when it's you, when it's you, it didn't even make sense," Curry said .
Advertisement
He knew he had worked his whole life for that moment, but when it finally came, it didn't register the way he expected. "It was like, I know I've been working on my whole life for this moment but it didn't even make sense. Like it was happening. And that night was going to be the celebration of him passing the torch to me to start my own career," Steph explained the moment he felt with his dad.
He was taken No. 7 by Golden State , one spot ahead of the New York Knicks , who desperately wanted him at No. 8. "Got drafted by the Warriors and all the Knicks fans started booing because they wanted me to drop to number eight," he said.
Waiting out Minnesota
The wildest part is that Golden State wasn't even the team Curry had circled going into the night. The top of the draft played out as expected: Blake Griffin went first, then Hasheem Thabeet , James Harden and Tyreke Evans were picked after. It was the Minnesota Timberwolves on the clock with back-to-back picks.
Advertisement
"I was sitting there and Blake goes one, seemed to beat James Harden, Tyreek Evans, and then it's number five and Minnesota's got the two picks in a row. So I'm like, all right, just get through these two because they got two picks in a row," he recalled.
The Timberwolves were heavily linked with point guards in the Draft, and Curry knew that made those minutes in the green room feel even longer. "And then it's guaranteed, like, I didn't really know," he said, but then the surprise nobody expected happened. Minnesota took Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn in front of him.
He admitted that five minutes in the green room felt even longer, especially between those Timberwolves' picks and the No. 7 where the Warriors were. He was just waiting for the Knicks to take him with their upcoming pick.
Advertisement
The team he tried to avoid
When NBA commissioner David Stern finally walked out and announced that Golden State is taking Curry, he didn't even register it the way he thought he would. "And then David Stern came out. Said my name and it didn't, like, I heard my name, but it was like, wait. I didn't even talk to them," he admitted.
The Warriors didn't play a significant part in his pre-draft process. Curry didn't even workout for them as he was trying to avoid the California team. "We didn't work out, but we was trying to avoid them. We trying to avoid them," he later admitted.
Advertisement
Unfortunately for all the Knicks fans in the building, in the end, Curry got drafted by the team he tried to sidestep. On the other hand, Steph can't say that he wasn't lucky , as he was a cornerstone of multiple championships and went on to become the greatest Warrior in the history of basketball.
Related: Stephen Curry reflects on how the NBA game has changed after a debate with his dad
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
