Steph Curry’s journey to 4,000 NBA 3-pointers is one nobody ever saw coming

SAN FRANCISCO — The Sacramento Kings aren’t alone in their Steph Curry misery.

Back in 2009, when the Golden State legend was a sinewy, sharpshooting prospect from Davidson who never could have imagined draining 4,000 3-pointers in his NBA life, the Kings were one of five teams that passed on the babyfaced assassin in the draft before he went No. 7 to the Warriors. The Minnesota Timberwolves, infamously, declined his services twice with the fifth and sixth picks while opting instead for Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn.

When the then-21-year-old came to Sacramento just four days before that year’s draft, having extended his workout schedule so that he could show off for the team that had the No. 4 pick, there was a deeper dynamic at play in this sliding doors moment that would eventually make the miss even worse. The Kings, desperate for a franchise centerpiece who could usher in a new era, were already locked in on Memphis’ Tyreke Evans as the leading prospect. In a twist of cruel irony, Evans’ agent at the time was one of the future architects of the Warriors’ dynasty, Bob Myers.

The Kings had defensive concerns about putting Curry next to the slight-of-frame Kevin Martin in their backcourt and were drawn to the way that the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Evans could get to the rim at will while holding his own on both ends (with the help of his 7-3 wingspan). Curry — who was also behind Rubio and Flynn on the organization’s wish list — was never truly in the running for that spot. And in the eyes of some, his presence that day made it all that much easier for the bigger, stronger Evans to showcase his physical superiority (as you can see below) and confirm the Kings’ leanings about the pick.

Fast forward 15 years, eight months and 21 days, and the butterfly effect was still being felt in the Bay Area on Thursday night. Curry reached that once-unthinkable milestone midway through the third quarter against the Kings at Chase Center, getting Trey Lyles to bite on the right-wing pump fake and firing away before DeMar DeRozan could close.

Not long after, as the Warriors pulled away in the 130-104 win and continued their revival tour with newcomer Jimmy Butler in tow, Curry took a breather on the bench and tucked his vintage mouthguard in his tights before waiting for his next shift. And yet again, as has been the case so many times before, the Warriors went home happy — ecstatic, really — that they were on the right side of basketball fortune so many years ago.

Four thoouussssaannnddd 3s?!

Yes, as our esteemed Curry chronicler, Marcus Thompson, will tell you, it’s just a round number with no real distinctive meaning. Ever since Curry overtook Ray Allen (2,973) for the all-time lead in 3-pointers back on Dec. 14, 2021, he has been, in essence, setting a new record every night.

At this rate, with 5,000 within reach if he plays at least three more seasons, it’s safe to say that this is one of those records that might never be broken. James Harden, the 35-year-old Clippers star who was taken third by Oklahoma City in that same 2009 draft, is a distant second at 3,127. Curry, who is signed through the 2026-27 campaign, told 95.7 The Game this week that he wants to play beyond his current contract.

The 3s are only part of his incredible body of work, of course, with the four titles, two MVPs, 11 All-Star appearances and the like, and so elite that Shaquille O’Neal recently advocated for his inclusion in the GOAT conversation.

Yet, for the Kings and every other team that will always wonder what might have been with No. 30, the part that can’t be forgotten is nobody — not Curry himself, and certainly not that Warriors front office led by Larry Riley — saw this sort of legacy coming. Myself included.

When I first met Curry on June 20, 2009 — at his humble hotel near Arco Arena one day before the aforementioned Kings workout — he hardly looked like someone who was destined to change the game. Truth be told, with those scrawny arms and the frame that wouldn’t truly fill out until a decade or so later, he didn’t look like he could change a tire.

At the time, I was a Kings beat writer for The Sacramento Bee and had a habit of connecting with draft prospects in advance of their workout as a way to stay ahead of the latest story. As Curry stepped off the hotel shuttle van that day, throwing his bag over his shoulder and heading into the lobby, he was under no obligation to grant an unscheduled interview with a local reporter whom he’d never met. Yet true to his form, that genuine and accessible way that continues to this day, he graciously sat down on a nearby couch to share a few thoughts about how he might fit in with that Kings team.

As first impressions go, my initial reaction was two-fold: a massive thumbs up on his media decorum, and an emphatic question mark as it related to his NBA future. The notion of someone so skinny holding his own in the National Bigboys Association, let alone dominating, was hard to fathom. Curry was a bona fide star at Davidson, to be sure, but the history of the league is littered with mid-major talents who never pan out. Then came the early ankle troubles that cast even more doubt on what he might, or might not, become.

Late last month, I ran into the man whose medical magic played such a monumental part in saving Curry’s career and sparking the Warriors’ incredible run: Dr. Richard Ferkel. After a Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers game in LA on Feb. 25, Ferkel was gifted a 2022 championship ring from Klay Thompson, the fellow Warriors great (now with Dallas) who had his Achilles tendon repaired by Ferkel in November 2020. But before Ferkel worked on Thompson, he performed Curry’s arthroscopic surgery on April 25, 2012, that was as nerve-wracking a moment as the organization has ever had.

When Curry entered the operating room in Van Nuys, Calif., that day, he didn’t know the extent of the damage that had been done. As his longtime agent, Jeff Austin, has shared before, there was a chance that Ferkel would need to perform a far riskier reconstruction of the ankle.

“That (reconstruction procedure) hadn’t really been done by that type of athlete,” Austin said back then.

So many times, from that draft process to the formative years that followed, Curry’s remarkable career could have gone the other way. Yet now, with the Warriors suddenly looking like title contenders again, he is cemented as an all-time great whose resume is getting more absurd with every passing year.

When Curry was trying to get this latest milestone behind him against the Kings, it became apparent that the natural flow of the Warriors’ offense had been disturbed. The rhythm was off. Actions were forced. Curry, who was 1 of 3 from distance with five points in the first half, didn’t look like himself.

All in all, it was as modest a Curry performance as you’ll find: 11 points (4-of-9 shooting; 2-of-6 from 3), five assists, two rebounds and two turnovers. But that simply didn’t matter.

Steph still did Steph things. The people raved. The Warriors won. And somehow, someway, this Curry saga continues.

“Yeah, I think we all kind of wanted that for him, where we all were just trying (to make it) happen,” said Draymond Green, who has assisted on more of Curry’s 3s than any other teammate (671, with Andre Iguodala a distant second at 175). “But to see him cross that milestone that no one has ever crossed, is very fitting. The way he changed the game, how important he made the 3-point shot to the game of basketball …

“It couldn’t happen to a better person, (someone) who has been a steward of this game, the way he’s carried this franchise on his back, what he’s done for the NBA, the league as a whole. I’m happy to be here to see it be a small part of it, but more importantly, just witness greatness on a nightly basis.”

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(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)