Al Horford has already had same realization every Warrior has experienced for 15 years

Ever since he stepped foot onto the NBA hardwood, leaving behind his identity as Davidson's baby-faced assassin to become the unquestioned face of the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry has captivated NBA audiences. He's hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy four times, earned two scoring crowns, dazzled audiences with an endless reel of highlight-worthy threes, and led the entire Association on a complete offensive paradigm shift.

Naturally, that's thrilled Dubs supporters, who have gotten to claim the No. 7 pick of the 2009 draft as one of their own for 17 seasons now. But Curry's relentless excellence and trademark joie de vivre, splashing in triples with mouthguard akimbo, has also stymied one opponent after another. He's served as the perfect representation of the agony-and-ecstasy dichotomy that makes sports such irresistable theater.

Al Horford, a 39-year-old long-in-the-tooth veteran who entered the league two years prior to Curry, only needed two games to realize just how fun life can be on the right side of the Steph spectrum.

Al Horford finally got to experience a Stephen Curry explosion while wearing the same colors

If Game 1 of the Warriors' 2025-26 campaign, a 119-109 victory over the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers, was satisfying, Curry made sure Game 2 was special.

His final stat line was a jaw-dropper: 42 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and just two turnovers while shooting 14-of-25 from the field and 6-of-12 from deep. But the numbers don't hold a candle to the sheer entertainment factor on display during a frenetic fourth-quarter comeback that turned into a 137-131 overtime triumph over a Denver Nuggets squad expected to factor into this year's title chase.

Curry, who scored the Warriors' final 13 points of regulation, drilled two treys in the game's final 90 seconds. Both tied the game, and one left him roaring to the rafters after he let fly from 34 feet and knotted the score at 120 apiece with 21 seconds left.

A rough lip-reading: "My name is Wardell Stephen Curry II, commander of the Warriors of the Western Conference, leader of the Splash Brothers, and loyal sharpshooter to the true head coach, Steve Kerr. Father of a generation of threes, husband to the deeper-than-deep shot, and I will have my victory, in this quarter or the overtime period."

Horford, who has been on the wrong end of more than one Stephsplosion, was one of those entertained.

"A lot of fun?"

Yeah, that just about sums it up.

Horford knows all too well what vintage Stephen Curry can do

Though the overtime thriller was only Horford's second game realizing his destiny and suiting up in the same NBA uniform as Curry, that's all it took to understand the exuberant feeling of watching him rack up SportsCenter clips for you rather than against you.

After all, he has better perspective than most on what it's like to be on the wrong end.

Thanks to his stints on so many highly competitive outfits, ranging from the peak-of-their-powers Atlanta Hawks to the title-winning 2023-24 Boston Celtics, the veteran big man has gotten the better of his current teammates quite a few times. The two have met 19 times during the regular season, with Horford earning an 11-8 advantage, but Curry has four wins in six head-to-head postseason clashes. Horford has seen the future Hall of Famer put up a 49-spot against him, drill at least five three-pointers on six occasions, and generally do, well, Stephen Curry things.

Luckily for him, he only has to worry about how to celebrate those things moving forward.

Something tells us it's going to be, in Horford's own words, a lot of fun.