How might Steph Curry’s career have turned out if he had been picked by the New York Knicks rather than the Warriors in the 2009 NBA Draft?

Golden State took Curry with the seventh overall pick in the draft, one spot ahead of New York, where Curry’s father, Dell, wanted his son to go.

After the elder Curry stated on the father-son duo’s new “Heat Check” podcast series that he urged the Warriors not to draft his son in the hopes of Steph landing in New York, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, a lifelong Knicks fan, was asked by host Molly Qerim on Tuesday’s episode of “First Take” how the 36-year-old’s NBA career would have changed if he had been drafted by the Knicks.

“First and foremost, this very subject pains me,” Smith remarked. “Depression was the last thing I needed in my life, as fatigued as I already was. Which is why I must say this: Steph Curry would not have had the career he has had if he lived in New York City for one reason only. James Dolan is not Joe Lacob. That’s it.

“Because he spent so much time focusing on headlines and outside noise rather than allowing the basketball players to run the game. Some individuals believe James Dolan has lately turned over a new leaf. Prior to this, he was simply a bad apple in the corporation, and he is the “head of the snake,” as they say. And I believe he would have impeded Steph Curry’s progress prematurely, preventing him from reaching this position.”

Dolan has built a controversial reputation since becoming Knicks owner in 1999, and Smith believes the Madison Square Garden Sports Company CEO would have found a way to derail Curry’s NBA career if the Davidson point guard had been drafted by New York in 2009.

Fortunately for Curry and the Warriors, that scenario never came to pass.

Knicks fans, as well as the five teams who passed on Curry before the Warriors chose him, are left to wonder what may have happened.