“Whether it’s the Garden or Carnegie Hall, the New York fan gravitates toward greatness and has a way of applauding it. “He’s a Broadway star, and the Garden loves Broadway stars,” McKillop said. The Garden stood and roared for Curry when he broke Ray Allen’s all-time record, even though he did it against the Knicks, not for them. That love affair goes back to his college days.” I was reminded of that when he broke the 3-point record this past season, with the Garden crowd anticipating it as soon as he touched the ball. “It was a defining moment for him because the New York fans oohed and aahed after every shot he took. “I saw the way Stephen captivated the Garden crowd that night,” McKillop recalled. Knicks legend Dick McGuire showed up at Davidson early in Curry’s career and told McKillop, “This guy is going to be a pro, and he’s going to be a star.” In his final college season, Curry overcame a poor shooting night in the closing minutes with a flurry of baskets that beat West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic. McKillop watched Curry play dreadfully in a Las Vegas high school tournament, yet came away impressed by the way he encouraged teammates, listened to coaches and showed respect to referees. It looked like he was wearing his father’s uniform.” “The uniforms back then were free-flowing, and his was draped on him. “Stephen looked very boyish, very baby-ish, very frail,” McKillop told The Post. The major college heavyweights passed on him, and for good reason. But through willpower, instinct and a fearless approach to his craft, he made himself an all-time great, and the only man to ever sink at least 3,000 3-pointers.Ĭurry wasn’t supposed to be this kind of player, not even close, despite his father Dell’s distinguished 16-year NBA career. Much like The Captain was in The Bronx, Curry is not the most physically gifted player in his sport. It’s like Jeter and the Yankees.”Īlmost exactly like Jeter and the Yankees.
It’s been the greatest marriage you can find. But let me tell you, he used that Golden State platform to become a global icon. “As a New Yorker who thought the Garden was the mecca,” said McKillop, a son of Queens and Long Island, of Chaminade High and Hofstra, “of course I would have loved to see Stephen play for the Knicks. Stephen Curry drives to the basket against the Mavericks during the second quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. Those are numbers worth recalling as Curry’s Warriors are favored Thursday night to eliminate Dallas and make their sixth trip to the NBA Finals for a shot at their fourth championship. 8, Jordan Hill, scored for the franchise before being dealt in the middle of his rookie year. The Knicks have won eight postseason games since that night, while the Warriors have won 97 - the same number of points the Knicks’ selection at No. They needed a Julian Mock in the Warriors’ organization to let the sweet-shooting guard slide from the seventh slot to the eighth, and of course there wasn’t any to be found. Everyone in the prospect’s camp, including his family and his college coach at Davidson, Bob McKillop, wanted Curry in New York.
#Garden story series#
A cheer went up in the Yankees’ draft room before they took the spindly high school shortstop with the next pick.įour months before Jeter won his fifth and final World Series title, the Knicks were dying to draft Curry.
Nearly everyone in the Reds organization wanted the Kalamazoo Kid, everyone other than the man making the decision, Julian Mock, who selected a college outfielder named Chad Mottola. Just a phone call to a Knicks fan who has lived that life ever since Golden State drafted Stephen Curry seventh overall in 2009. If a Yankees fan wants to know what life might have been like had the Reds drafted Derek Jeter with the fifth pick in 1992, it would not require any great stretch of his or her imagination.
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