It feels like Stephen Curry has been part of the basketball furniture forever. Honestly, it is hard to remember an NBA where the three-pointer wasn't the primary weapon of choice, but that wasn't the case when a skinny kid from a mid-major school walked onto the stage to shake David Stern’s hand.
The Exact Moment Curry Joined the NBA
If you are looking for the "official" date, Stephen Curry joined the NBA on June 25, 2009. That was the night of the 2009 NBA Draft held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. He was selected 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors.
It wasn't some undisputed home run at the time. Far from it.
You’ve probably seen the old scouting reports by now. They are legendary for how wrong they were. Scouts called him "fragile," "too small," and "not a true point guard." People genuinely wondered if his game—which absolutely torched the Southern Conference while he was at Davidson—could actually work against the giants of the league. He didn't even want to go to Golden State originally. His camp was actually pulling for him to land with the New York Knicks at the 8th spot. The Warriors took him anyway, and the rest of the league has been chasing his shadow ever since.
The Professional Debut
While the draft was in June, Curry’s actual on-court arrival happened a few months later. Stephen Curry made his NBA debut on October 28, 2009, in a game against the Houston Rockets.
His stat line that night?
- 14 points
- 7 assists
- 4 steals
- 2 rebounds
He played 36 minutes and shot 7-of-12 from the floor. Interestingly enough, in a foreshadowing of the "Human Torch" he would become, he didn't actually make a three-pointer in his first game. He went 0-for-1 from deep. Imagine that. The greatest shooter in the history of the world went 0-for-1 in his first professional outing.
Why the 2009 Draft Was a Weird Time
To understand why Curry being drafted 7th was such a big deal, you have to look at who went before him. The 2009 class was stacked, but it also had some massive "what ifs."
Blake Griffin went number one. That made sense; he was a walking highlight reel. But then you had the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had two chances to take Curry. They had back-to-back picks at 5 and 6. They took two point guards—Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn.
They passed on Steph. Twice.
Minnesota fans still have nightmares about that. Rubio had a solid career, but Flynn was out of the league in a few years. Meanwhile, Curry was busy winning four rings and two MVPs.
The Davidson Legend
Before the NBA, Curry was the king of March Madness. If you weren't watching college hoops in 2008, it’s hard to describe the "Steph-mania" that took over. Davidson was this tiny school that nobody outside of North Carolina really cared about. Then Curry starts dropping 40-point bombs on Gonzaga and Georgetown.
He led the nation in scoring during his junior year, averaging 28.6 points per game. That’s the version of Steph the Warriors drafted—the guy who could shoot from the parking lot before "logo shots" were even a thing.
Did Curry Change the NBA the Second He Joined?
Not exactly. People like to pretend it was an overnight revolution, but it was more of a slow burn. During his rookie year, Curry was playing alongside Monta Ellis. Monta was the "guy" in Oakland back then, and he famously told reporters that he and Curry "can't win together" because they were both too small.
He sort of had a point for the 2009 version of the league. Back then, you still needed a dominant big man. The game was slower. It was played in the paint.
Then the ankles happened.
In his third season (2011-12), Curry only played 26 games. His ankles were like glass. There was a real, terrifying moment where people thought his career might be over before it truly started. The Warriors actually traded Monta Ellis to Milwaukee to clear the way for Curry, a move that got the front office booed by their own fans during Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement.
That trade was the turning point. It signaled that the team was betting the house on the skinny kid from Davidson.
The Three-Point Explosion
Once Steve Kerr arrived in 2014 and unlocked the "Motion Offense," the league shifted on its axis. In Curry’s rookie year, the average NBA team took about 18 threes per game. By 2024, that number skyrocketed to over 35.
Curry didn't just join the NBA; he redefined what a "good shot" looks like. In 2009, if you took a transition three-pointer from 30 feet, your coach would bench you immediately. Today, if you don't take that shot when you're open, you’re in trouble.
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What You Should Do With This Information
If you're a basketball fan or just someone interested in how a single person can disrupt an entire industry, there are a few ways to dive deeper into the Curry era:
- Watch the 2008 Davidson vs. Gonzaga highlights. It is the purest version of Curry’s "underdog" energy.
- Compare the 2009 NBA standings to today. Look at the "3PA" (Three Point Attempts) column. The difference is staggering and shows the "Curry Effect" in raw numbers.
- Check out the "Underrated" documentary. It gives a much better look at the mental hurdles he had to clear when everyone told him he wasn't big enough for the league.
The most important takeaway is that Curry joining the NBA wasn't just a roster move. It was the beginning of a mathematical shift in how basketball is played. He proved that skill could overcome raw size, and that 3 is indeed greater than 2.