If a mulligan was allowed in the NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have gladly taken one in 2009, as they drafted not one, but two point guards before the most accomplished player of that draft class in Stephen Curry.
The T-Wolves were in dire need of a floor general, but they struck out twice, drafting Syracuse standout Jonny Flynn with the fifth overall pick and Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio with the sixth, as Curry fell to the Golden State Warriors.
Nine years removed from that memory, Curry told the story of why the franchise decided to pass on him.
“My guy [former Minnesota GM] David Kahn. I don't know where he's at right now,” said Curry as a guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast.”I don't know if that ever came out — there's a story. Everybody knows how much I love golf — play it in my spare time and what not.
“I think the word on the street was that he didn't draft me because in Minnesota it's cold and I wouldn't be able to play as much golf so I would have been miserable.”
Curry has been a golf-lover even before breaking into the NBA, and surely enough — it's tough to go out and gold when snow and rain are hitting the course so often.
“I hope it's true because that's hilarious (laughter),” Curry said. “That's hilarious.”
Simmons responded, citing his outrage at how the Timberwolves drafted back in the day.
“It was idiotic in the moment,” said the host. “I did a draft diary. I was going nuts. Because if you're gonna take two point guards, how are you not one of the two? And then if you're gonna go all-in on Rubio and you don't even know if he's gonna come over [from Spain]…”
Curry infamously wanted to land in New York instead of Golden State, but it all turned out well for him in the end, as the team would eventually restructure from a bottom-of-the-barrel franchise to a championship contender, now a borderline dynasty in the making.
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