Where Was Stephen Curry Picked in the NBA Draft? Surprising Facts Revealed
I still remember the first time I saw Stephen Curry shoot a basketball. It was during March Madness 2008, and I was sitting in my college dorm room with my roommate, both of us supposedly studying for finals. Instead, we found ourselves captivated by this skinny kid from Davidson who moved with this incredible fluidity, like water finding its path through rock. He wasn't just scoring; he was redefining what a college guard could do. "This guy's special," my roommate said through a mouthful of pizza, and we both knew we were witnessing something rare. Little did we know then that we were watching a player who would eventually prompt the question: where was Stephen Curry picked in the NBA draft?
The answer, as most basketball fans now know, is seventh overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. But back then, sitting in that dorm room, if you'd told me that six other teams would pass on this generational talent, I would have laughed. The Minnesota Timberwolves, holding both the fifth and sixth picks that year, selected two point guards—Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn—before Golden State took Curry at seven. Looking back now, it's one of those draft moments that makes you scratch your head, like the Portland Trail Blazers taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in 1984. The skepticism around Curry was palpable—too small, not athletic enough, just a shooter. Even the Warriors initially envisioned him as more of a complementary piece alongside Monta Ellis rather than the franchise cornerstone he would become.
This reminds me of something I observed while following collegiate sports here in the Philippines. I recall reading about how the longtime deputy acknowledged that this UAAP Season 88 might just be "the toughest season" for the Lady Bulldogs. That statement resonated with me because it reflects how even dominant programs face moments of transition and uncertainty. Curry's draft position represents a similar moment of underestimation—a powerhouse talent overlooked because he didn't fit the traditional mold of what an NBA star should look like. Both situations speak to how difficult it is to predict greatness, whether you're talking about basketball in the NBA or volleyball in the UAAP.
What fascinates me most about Curry's draft story isn't just where he was picked, but how his selection changed the entire trajectory of the Warriors franchise. When Golden State drafted him, they were coming off a 29-53 season and hadn't made the playoffs since 2007. In his rookie year, they improved to 26 wins, then 36 the following season. The progress was steady but not spectacular—until it was. By his sixth season, Curry would win his first MVP award and lead the Warriors to their first championship in 40 years. I've always believed that the best draft picks aren't just about selecting the most talented player, but about finding someone whose skills and personality can transform a team's culture. Curry did exactly that.
The statistical leap Curry made between college and the NBA still blows my mind. At Davidson, he averaged 25.3 points per game over three seasons—impressive but not unheard of for a college star. What nobody could have predicted was that he would become the greatest shooter in NBA history, shattering the single-season three-point record with 402 made threes in 2015-16 after previously breaking it with 286 the season before. Those numbers still feel unreal when I say them out loud. To put it in perspective, before Curry came along, no player had ever made 300 threes in a season. He's done it three times.
There's a personal element to why Curry's underdog story resonates with me. As someone who was always told I was "too small" to play competitive sports growing up, seeing someone like Curry dominate through skill and intelligence rather than pure physicality felt validating. It's why I find myself defending smaller players in today's game—Trae Young, for instance—against critics who use the same "not athletic enough" arguments that were once leveled against Curry. The truth is, Curry didn't just prove his doubters wrong; he changed how we evaluate basketball talent altogether.
Thinking back to that dorm room moment, what strikes me now is how wrong conventional wisdom can be. The teams that passed on Curry weren't stupid—they were working with the evaluation frameworks available at the time. But Curry's success forced everyone to reconsider what matters in a basketball player. His story serves as a permanent reminder that sometimes the most transformative talents come in packages we don't immediately recognize. Where was Stephen Curry picked in the NBA draft? Seventh—a number that will forever symbolize how easily greatness can be overlooked when it doesn't arrive in the expected form.