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Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors greet each other prior to the game.

There are shots that live forever in NBA memory. Stephen Curry has produced more than his share of them during his time with the Golden State Warriors, but one stands above the rest for a specific reason. During the season the Warriors won 73 regular season games, Curry pulled up from what felt like a different area code at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City and buried a game-winning three-pointer that stunned the Thunder and sent the basketball world into a frenzy.

The spot on the floor. The audacity of the attempt. The result.

It became one of the defining images of Curry’s career. On Monday night in the same building, something eerily familiar happened.

Wembanyama Channels Curry in the Same Building

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

With the San Antonio Spurs trailing by three points and the clock winding down in the first overtime of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Victor Wembanyama found space, stopped, and pulled up from almost the exact spot on the floor where Curry had made his legendary shot years earlier.

The result was the same. The three went in. Double overtime was forced.

The similarities went beyond just the location. Even the missed attempts that preceded both deep threes were nearly identical in their trajectory. Wembanyama had slightly more time than Curry did, but he chose to stop and pop from that spot the moment the space presented itself. It was the kind of shot that requires both the skill to make it and the confidence to attempt it in the first place.

Curry’s shot won the game outright. Wembanyama’s only forced double overtime, with the Spurs still needing to finish the job. They did, eventually winning 122-115 in a double-overtime classic that will be remembered as one of the great playoff games in recent memory.

What It Says About Wembanyama

GettySan Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finishes a dunk over Oklahoma City Thunder defenders during his historic 40-point, 20-rebound Game 1 performance.

The Curry comparison is not something to take lightly. Curry redefined what was considered a reasonable shot in professional basketball. His willingness to pull up from distances that most players would not even consider changed the game permanently.

Wembanyama is doing something similar in his own way. His combination of size, skill, and shooting range creates problems that defenses have no real blueprint for. At 7’4″ with the shot-making ability of a guard, he occupies a category of his own.

The fact that he chose that spot, in that moment, in that building, and delivered says everything about where his confidence is right now. He finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 49 minutes, the most he has ever played. None of it looked forced.

What It Means for the Western Conference Finals

The Spurs stole Game 1 from the defending champions without their starting point guard De’Aaron Fox, who sat out with a lingering ankle injury. Rookie Dylan Harper filled in with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven steals. The Oklahoma City Thunder are still the defending champions and will adjust. Game 2 is Wednesday night.

But the image that will stay with people from Game 1 is Wembanyama at Paycom Center, pulling up from that spot, delivering that shot.

Final Word for the Warriors

Curry’s shot in Oklahoma City is part of Warriors lore. It always will be.

What Wembanyama did on Monday night in the same building, from the same spot, on the same kind of stage, was a reminder of just how rare that level of shot-making is. And a hint of what this league might look like for the next decade.

The torch has not been passed. Curry is still playing. But Monday night in OKC felt like a glimpse of what comes next.