Sometimes, the biggest moments in NBA history begin with a decision that has nothing to do with basketball.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
For the Warriors, one of those moments came during a season that quickly went off track. Monta Ellis was supposed to step into a much bigger role after Baron Davis left Golden State. Instead, a moped accident kept Ellis out for most of the season and left the Warriors searching for answers.
Years later, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst raised a wild possibility about what happened next: “So maybe their poor play, which got them the seventh pick, maybe you could tie it back to Monta getting in that moped crash.” Windhorst later took the hypothetical even further: “And if Monta hadn’t had the moped crash, they wouldn’t have been able to draft as high and they wouldn’t have gotten Steph.”
Monta Ellis’ Moped Accident Cost Him Nearly $3 Million
The chain started in August 2008, shortly after Golden State gave Ellis a six-year, $66 million contract extension. He had just finished a season in which he played 81 games, averaged 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and shot 53.1% from the field.
Then Baron Davis left for the Los Angeles Clippers, putting even more responsibility on Ellis. “Monta was going to be the guy who replaced Baron Davis as our primary playmaker. Everything we planned to do offensively was designed around his speed and ability to break down defenses,” Don Nelson said.
Ellis instead suffered a torn deltoid ligament and a high ankle sprain in his left ankle after a moped accident. He initially told the Warriors that he had been injured playing pickup basketball before later admitting what had happened.
Golden State suspended him for 30 games without pay. The penalty cost Ellis $2,990,909, with contemporary reports rounding the figure to roughly $3 million.
The suspension covered the start of the season, but Ellis’ recovery took longer. He eventually returned on January 23, 2009, against Oklahoma City. By then, he had missed 57 regular-season games and appeared in only 25.
The Warriors Ended Up With the No. 7 Pick
Golden State struggled without Ellis, finishing the season 29-53. The Warriors also dealt with other roster problems, including injuries to Andris Biedrins and Corey Maggette, while finishing 28th in defensive rating.
In the 57 games Ellis missed, Golden State went 18-39. The Warriors went 11-14 in the 25 games he played. Those numbers show the difference in the team’s results, but they do not prove that Ellis’ absence alone determined its draft position.
The 29-53 record left Golden State with the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
And Curry was still there.
Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn went before him. Minnesota had taken Rubio at No. 5 and Flynn at No. 6, leaving Curry for Golden State.
That was not what the Warriors expected.
“The pick would’ve been traded if it hadn’t been Curry. Once Curry became available there was no deal,” former Warriors GM Larry Riley said. “As we were looking at that pick beforehand, I didn’t think Curry would get to us, I really didn’t.”
Golden State Was Already Locked In on Curry
Curry’s camp had actually hoped he would land with the New York Knicks, who held the No. 8 pick. His agent, Jeff Austin, tried to keep him away from Golden State before the draft.
“I tell him that Stephen wants to be in New York. Stay away from him,” Austin recalled telling Riley.
It did not matter.
Riley was determined to take Curry if he remained available.
“I just told Jeff Austin, I don’t care if he works out or not, I believe in him, I’m going to draft him,” Riley said. “That’s another part of the story, we were locked into Curry to the point I told Jeff Austin even if he doesn’t visit, doesn’t work out, I’m going to draft him if he’s there when we pick.”
Curry became a Warrior, and the rest of the franchise’s history changed forever.
There is no evidence that Golden State’s front office ever connected Ellis’ moped suspension to landing Curry at the time. Windhorst’s idea remains a retrospective what-if, not a proven cause-and-effect story.
Still, the sequence is hard to ignore: Ellis missed 57 games, the Warriors finished 29-53, Golden State landed at No. 7, and Curry unexpectedly remained on the board. One of the strangest chapters in Warriors history may have started with an accident far away from the basketball court.