Long before Stephen Curry became the face of the Golden State Warriors, another sharpshooter stole the spotlight during the team’s 2009 Summer League run. While Curry struggled through the only Summer League appearance of his career, undrafted guard Anthony Morrow exploded for a tournament-record 47 points — a mark that still stands today. Now, Morrow is looking back on the unlikely journey that nearly took him to Ukraine instead of the NBA.
Playing the Money Game
Appearing on the “Club 520 Podcast” on July 13, the former Golden State Warriors sharpshooter reflected on how close he came to abandoning his NBA dream after going undrafted in 2008.
Following a standout career at Georgia Tech, Morrow expected to hear his name called on draft night. Instead, every franchise passed. “Politics” played a role, he said.
A professional team in Ukraine offered him an $80,000 annual contract that included an NBA-out clause, allowing him to leave if an NBA team came calling.
“I felt like I played with house money ’cause I was gonna go to Ukraine,” Morrow recalled. “I didn’t think about going to the league like that. Signed to go to Ukraine for $80,000, so I had to go to all three summer leagues.”
His agent wasn’t ready to let him board that flight.
“I had to go to Orlando, then Vegas, then Utah,” Morrow said. “Agent said $80,000, I said, ‘Give me that, I’m on. So it was like, ‘Nah, you still gotta go.'”
As his stock rose, so did Ukraine’s offer, climbing to $120,000 after a productive stint in Las Vegas. His agent still refused.
Golden State then invited him to its summer league roster, where another breakout performance pushed the Ukrainian offer higher still.
“They done went up to $140,000. Aye, I’m out bro, we goin’?”
His agent still had one final stop in mind: “Hell nah, we gotta go to Utah.”
As the featured player in Utah’s summer league, Morrow caught fire, won MVP honors and shot an astonishing 70 percent from three-point range before exploding for the 47-point performance that remains the summer league scoring record.
The Warriors quickly rewarded him with a two-year, $1 million contract, allowing him to activate the NBA-out clause and walk away from Ukraine before ever playing a game overseas.
One year later, Morrow scored 37 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in his first career start, setting what was then the NBA record for an undrafted rookie’s debut. He also led the league in three-point percentage at 46.7 percent, the first rookie ever to top the NBA in that category.
Morrow’s most memorable summer remains tied to Curry, who years later admitted he remembers exactly how dominant his teammate was while his own play lagged.
Curry shot just 32.5 percent from the field over five games. During Morrow’s masterpiece, Curry finished with only nine points while committing six fouls.
Morrow, meanwhile, was given the green light by legendary Warriors coach Don Nelson, making 18 of 26 shots, including 7 of 9 from three-point range, without a single assist.
According to Curry, the entire gym was ecstatic, and he later said via text to The Athletic that he isn’t surprised the record still remains 15 years later.
Morrow carved out a nine-year NBA career with seven franchises, according to Spotrac, earning more than $24.2 million, including a three-year, $12 million deal with the New Jersey Nets in 2010 and a three-year, $10 million agreement with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014.
Since retiring after the 2016-17 season, Morrow has expanded into commercial real estate, technology investments, media ventures, and his own clothing brand, proving the player who nearly chose Ukraine built a career far bigger than anyone expected on draft night.