Steph Curry was hoping to be drafted by Knicks, not Warriors

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Friday, January 24, 2020

Steph Curry has three championship rings, two MVP trophies and five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors.

But if Curry'd had his way, he would have gone to the New York Knicks, not the Warriors, in the 2009 NBA draft.

"I wanted to go to New York and thought I was going to New York," Curry said on Showtime's "All the Smoke" podcast. "At the draft in the green room, I was like, 'Oh, get to the eight spot and New York can get me.'

"And then I got the call from [former Warriors GM] Larry Riley, like 'We're going to pick you in the seventh spot.'"

The Warriors had been to the playoffs only once in the previous 15 seasons. But with Curry and then Klay Thompson, who was drafted in 2011, they began to turn things around, later adding Draymond Green and building a championship mentality.

Curry, 31, who is recovering from a broken hand, now says he never wants to leave the Warriors. "I don't want to move anywhere," he told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. "I love the Bay."

With the No. 8 pick in 2009, the Knicks took forward Jordan Hill, who was traded to the Houston Rockets after 24 games in a deal that brought Tracy McGrady to New York.

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