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.
Just a phone call to a Knicks fan who has lived that life ever since Golden State drafted Stephen Curry seventh overall in 2009.
You know the Jeter story by now. 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. A cheer went up in the Yankees’ draft room before they took the spindly high school shortstop with the next pick.
Four months before Jeter won his fifth and final World Series title, the Knicks were dying to draft Curry. Everyone in the prospect’s camp, including his family and his college coach at Davidson, Bob McKillop, wanted Curry in New York. 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.
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. 8, Jordan Hill, scored for the franchise before being dealt in the middle of his rookie year. 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.
“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. But let me tell you, he used that Golden State platform to become a global icon. It’s been the greatest marriage you can find. It’s like Mantle and the Yankees. It’s like Jeter and the Yankees.”
Almost exactly like Jeter and the Yankees.
Much like The Captain was in The Bronx, Curry is not the most physically gifted player in his sport. 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.
Curry wasn’t supposed to be this kind of player, not even close, despite his father Dell’s distinguished 16-year NBA career. The major college heavyweights passed on him, and for good reason.
“Stephen looked very boyish, very baby-ish, very frail,” McKillop told The Post. “The uniforms back then were free-flowing, and his was draped on him. It looked like he was wearing his father’s uniform.”
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. 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.
“I saw the way Stephen captivated the Garden crowd that night,” McKillop recalled. “It was a defining moment for him because the New York fans oohed and aahed after every shot he took. 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. That love affair goes back to his college days.”
Yes, that love affair. 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.
“He’s a Broadway star, and the Garden loves Broadway stars,” McKillop said. “Whether it’s the Garden or Carnegie Hall, the New York fan gravitates toward greatness and has a way of applauding it. I say that as a proud New Yorker, and there’s just greatness in Steph.”
It’s not just found in the 3-point shot. It’s in his dribble, his stop-and-starts, his cutting off screens, his passes, his finishes around the rim. Curry won a championship before his two with Kevin Durant and now has a chance to win another without him.
“B.D. and A.D.,” McKillop said.
Before Durant and After Durant. Not that Curry needs to do anything else to enhance his historical standing.
“His legacy is ironclad now,” McKillop said. “Stephen changed the dimensions of the game and the way it’s played.”
Still at Davidson after 33 years and 634 victories, the 71-year-old McKillop often texts Curry this pregame message borrowed from another New York basketball lifer, Kevin Loughery: “If you want to be a great shooter,” McKillop explained, “you’ve got to be willing to sleep in the streets.” Keep shooting on those off nights, in other words, without sweating the consequences.
Curry hasn’t had many off nights since the Knicks missed out on him by one lousy draft slot. Would he have been the same superstar under Mike D’Antoni and his MSG successors? Would he have been attractive enough to land LeBron James, or to persuade Durant to join him in the big city (minus Kyrie Irving) as he joined him in Oakland?
“If he was struggling at Golden State, or got traded, I’d be thinking, ‘Man, what if Steph ended up with the Knicks?’ ” McKillop said. “But how can you think about that with the career that he’s having? Stephen truly found his home in 2009.”
And Knicks fans have paid the price ever since.