They call Victor Wembanyama “THE ALIEN”, and for good reason. The 7’6″ extraterrestrial from France is averaging 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game while shooting over 50% from the field. He’s an MVP candidate
in just his third season, dominating both ends with a skillset that defies every basketball convention we’ve ever known. I nervously cosigned the warnings earlier this season: he was gonna be a problem.And he’s not alone. Stephon Castle, the rookie guard wearing
number 5, has emerged as a genuine co-star, averaging 18.4 points and 7.8 assists while playing defense with an intensity that belies his age. Together, they’ve earned the perfect nickname: Area 51. Wembanyama’s number 1 combined with Castle’s number 5, representing the mysterious Nevada air base where alien conspiracies swirl.
San Antonio entered their back-to-back home games against the Golden State Warriors riding high at 8-2, winners of three straight, perfect at home. Their young core looked ready to announce themselves as legitimate contenders. Area 51 was preparing for takeoff.
The Warriors, meanwhile, limped into town at 6-6, having lost three of their last four. The night before the first San Antonio matchup, they’d been demolished by Oklahoma City, a 24-point beatdown that felt like watching your team get replaced by a younger, faster, more athletic version of themselves. Golden State looked old, tired, and vulnerable.
The aliens had landed in San Antonio, and they were ready to take over.
But you know what happened in Independence Day when the aliens thought they had Earth conquered? Will Smith walked right up to one of those extraterrestrial invaders and punched him dead in the face. “WELCOME TO EARTH!”.
That’s exactly what Stephen Curry did to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. (Shout out to my bro Dyon for that hilarious reference.)
Now THAT’S what I call a close encounter!
Over two games in the same arena, Curry dropped a combined 95 points on the Spurs’ home court, leading the Warriors to back-to-back comeback victories that felt like master classes in championship DNA. Wednesday’s 46-point eruption snapped a six-game road losing streak. Friday’s 49-point masterpiece, capped by game-winning free throws with six seconds remaining, proved the first performance wasn’t a fluke.
This is what Curry has been doing to giant men for over a decade. Ask Kevin Durant what it’s like when Curry gets rolling. Ask LeBron James about the gravitational pull Curry exerts on every defense. Ask Rudy Gobert about getting yanked out of the paint and into Curry’s orbit.
Now Victor Wembanyama knows too.
In Game 1, Curry scored 46 points with 29 coming in the second half as the Warriors erased a 16-point deficit. He had 22 points in the third quarter alone, going 5-for-9 from three and making all nine free throws. The Spurs had three alley-oop dunks building that lead, and Wembanyama finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists for his fourth career triple-double. Castle added 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, making them the first Spurs teammates to record triple-doubles in the same game.
It didn’t matter. The Warriors won 125-120.
“Obviously, we wanted to win,” Castle said, his first career triple-double feeling hollow. “But yeah, happy to get two triple-doubles. It is something great to be a part of. Proud to be a part of it, but we needed to win to add onto it.”
Welcome to championship basketball. Stats are great for Instagram. Wins are what cement your legacy forever.
If Wednesday was impressive, Friday was historic. Wemby roared back with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks, none more impressive than this one on Jimmy Butler to snuff out a Warriors fast break with less than a minute to go.
Cute. But Curry topped his 46-point performance with 49 points in the Warriors’ 109-108 NBA Cup victory, accounting for 44.9 percent of his team’s scoring. He shot 16-for-26 from the field, 9-for-17 from three, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. He had 31 points in the second half, including 17 in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth.
One shot deserves its own paragraph. In the second quarter, with Wembanyama’s 7’6″ frame and nine-foot wingspan standing between Curry and the basket, Curry simply arced the ball so high into the San Antonio sky that it cleared everything. The moonball looked like something from a video game, the same shot he’s been hitting over elite rim protectors his entire career, most notably against Rudy Gobert during championship runs. But watching him arc it over Wembanyama felt different. This was the reigning gravity king reminding his protégé that some forces of nature can’t be blocked, only witnessed.
With 6.4 seconds left and the Warriors down one, Curry stepped to the line. Wembanyama implored the home crowd to get loud, trying to ice the best statistical free-throw shooter in NBA history. Curry calmly made the first shot, then chuckled toward Wembanyama and mockingly encouraged the crowd to get loud again. He drained the second, giving him 49 points after De’Aaron Fox missed on the final possession.
The numbers are staggering. Curry joined Jordan as just the second player in NBA history to score 45-plus points in consecutive games after turning 37. He now has 44 career 40-point games since his 30th birthday, tied with MJ for the most all-time. He’s passed Jordan with 13 such games after turning 35, trailing only LeBron James.
“I was well aware,” Curry said about tying Michael Jordan for most 40-point games after turning 30. “That’s pretty cool from an individual accomplishment perspective. Longevity is something I pride myself on.”
The Posterization That Didn’t Count
There was one moment in Game 2 that perfectly captured the difference between viral highlights and actual winning basketball.
Late in the fourth quarter, after officials separated Draymond Green and Wembanyama for the third time as they muscled for position, something clicked. On the next inbounds play, Wembanyama threw down an alley-oop right over Green’s head. As the crowd exploded, Wemby glared down at Green from what felt like Mount Olympus, and the two went word-for-word.
There’s just one problem: the basket was waved off because officials ruled Green fouled Wembanyama before the dunk. The viral moment, the staredown, the confrontation, the poster that has been all over social media… none of it counted.
“I respect the way he responded,” Green said afterward. “You don’t ever back down from anybody, and he didn’t. So I respect that.”
Wembanyama had his own perspective: “I was not trying to prove anything to anybody. It’s just, at some point, somebody speaks to you a certain way, you have to respond in a certain way.” Green got the last laugh, boxing Wembanyama out on the final shot to make sure he couldn’t get a winning tip-in if the ball caromed his way. The satisfaction of the big dunk faded when the win slipped from the Spurs’ grasp. That’s the lesson. Viral moments with no impact on the final score are empty calories. They look great on Instagram, they get the crowd hyped, they make excellent memes. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Warriors reminded Spurs there are levels to this
Let’s not forget Warriors entered this Texas two-step stumbling after getting demolished by Oklahoma City. They had questions swirling about their depth, age, and ability to compete. Two games later, they’re 8-6, and they’ve answered every question about Curry’s ability to still carry this franchise.
For Wembanyama and Castle, these losses serve as valuable education. They played brilliantly. They competed with everything they had. They put up numbers that will look fantastic in the history books. And they still lost. Twice.That’s not failure, folks; that’s a lesson. This is what championship basketball looks like when you’re staring across at a two-time MVP who’s forgotten more about winning than most players will ever learn.
Area 51 is real, and Wembanyama and Castle will terrorize this league for the next decade. They’ll win championships together. They’ll collect MVP trophies and All-Star selections.
But right now, in this moment, Stephen Curry just reminded everyone why he’s still the most dangerous offensive player in basketball. At 37 years old, recovering from an illness that kept him out multiple games, playing back-to-back in a hostile environment against one of the most unique defensive talents the sport has ever seen, he dropped 95 points in two games and walked out of San Antonio with two victories.
The aliens had landed, ready to take over Earth. But this time it wasn’t Will Smith waiting at the door with a championship cigar and a knowing smile. It was the Unanimous one, the greatest point guard of all time, the man who redefined the game of basketball.
Welcome to Earth. The levels don’t disappear just because you’re talented. You still have to climb them.
And Stephen Curry is still standing at the top.
