Feb. 27, 2013: Steph Curry declared himself arrived. The NBA’s newest superstar. Scoring 54 in Madison Square Garden was a launch party. He and his Golden State Warriors would go on to upset Denver and press San Antonio in his postseason debut.

Feb. 27, 2016: Steph Curry declared himself a transcendent figure with a defining moment in Oklahoma City. He illustrated how he was changing and has changed basketball with a 37-foot game-winner that he pulled as if it were an elbow jumper, morphing the geometry of defense. One of the great awe moments of this era. He’d go on to be the first unanimous MVP and come so close to punctuating a 73-win season with another title.

Feb. 27, 2025: Steph Curry declared his return. His hiatus from championship relevance is over. His 56 points in Orlando on Thursday night was like a trumpet announcing his appearance on the postseason scene. Curry is back. In the mix. In the equation that will decide supremacy.

For most of the last two seasons, he was alone enough to look feeble. A 6-foot-3 marksman fighting against a league bent on his suffocation. But flanked by Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, Curry is back. He believes it. He feels it.

And when such is true, the rest of the league feels it. Nothing feels unprecedented about what could happen next. It’s a classic horror flick. It just screened in Paris last summer.

56 Points. 12 Threes.

Stephen Curry, unreal ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/ES1F6rtUpB

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 28, 2025

How terrifying it must be, especially for this next era up for grabs, to see this version of Curry stalking in the rearview. The Baby-Faced Assassin is no longer boyish in appearance. His eyes have lost their naivete. His full beard has grizzled his smile. The assassin’s still in there, though. Two weeks from 37 years old, Curry is more refined in his craft and still zealous about torturing defenses.

This Curry is a nightmare. Rested. Hungry. Nothing to lose. Flanked by worthy co-stars. Embedded with a team endowed with fresh belief. These must be scary times for the rest of the league.

Though Green’s championship prediction sounds less crazy by the day, it’s still a reach to call the Warriors a championship contender. They are 7-1 since acquiring Butler. They’ve almost completely climbed out of the Play-In Well. But capacity is their issue more than endurance. Can they summon and maintain elite basketball long enough at their ages? A title requires a four-month run from the trade deadline to the NBA Finals. It’s a daunting challenge tough to answer until the Jonathan Kuminga piece is added to their puzzle.

But in one series? In a big game? Curry is a terror. A soul-snatcher. Cold-blooded enough to end hopes. Charming enough to steal fans.

It’s a spectacular result for the NBA, a revitalized Curry. Not just because the show is still spectacular. No singular figure in the league seduces a road crowd, leases an opposing arena, like Curry. Commissioner Adam Silver had no idea his prayers would be answered by a trade for Butler.

But more important for the show is the level of quality. Think about it this way. To win a championship, it’s looking like a team will have to beat LeBron James and Luka Dončić, or scale Mt. Nikola Jokić. Or deal with Curry, Butler and Green. The Larry O’Brien Trophy has massive thorns.

A worthy champion will be produced. It seemed certain it would not be Curry. No one can be so sure now.

His magic display Thursday night was but proof he could still incinerate. Paolo Banchero was spectacular with 41 points for Orlando and it’s like it never happened. Because Curry is pyro-spectacular.

He won’t do this every night. The presumption, though, is he no longer needs to since they have Butler. But the threat to do so is real.

Curry’s tradition has been to turn up after the All-Star break. For his career on 3-pointers, he shoots 41.6 percent before the break and 44 percent after. This season, he has a reason to turn up.

With Butler and eventually Kuminga to take advantage of the imminent threat of Curry, the Warriors’ entire outlook has changed.

Butler didn’t have a good night in Orlando. Yet somehow, the Magic, a top defense in the league, couldn’t prevent clean looks by Curry. Orlando was without Jalen Suggs, a good on-ball defender. But they seemed especially incapable of denying Curry space.

In their scramble to try, they also got burned by rookie big man Quinten Post.

Curry made 12 from deep, and the only reason he didn’t break the NBA record for 3s in a game — 14, a mark set by former Warriors teammate Klay Thompson — is he only played 34 minutes. Older assassins require naps.

The dilemma the Warriors present in a playoff series was on display. Curry, Butler and Green in a playoff setting is enough to haunt the assistant coaches who must strategize against them. Other teams are better equipped to match up with the Warriors. Or at least have their own strengths with which to counter.

But as always, Step 1 to defeating Golden State is having a viable plan to contain Curry. And 56 points proves you’d still better do so.

He is seasoned and getting refreshed. His energy is tangible. His shots look purer. This is a developing problem for all the teams who jumped ahead and thought they’d no longer have to deal with Curry’s Warriors.

Think Curry is at all bothered by facing Memphis or Houston? Who’d feel the most pressure in a series between top-seed Oklahoma City and Golden State?

The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets are the worst matchups for the Warriors. But would either want their title chances going through Curry?

If it does, so be it. The best players aren’t scared in the most literal sense. Not of Curry. Not of anybody.

But these are scary times. The West is now even more intimidating. The Warriors are approaching the Clippers for the No. 6 seed. The No. 5 seed, currently occupied by Houston, is not crazy for Golden State to eye. The Warriors are five games back. That means the No. 4 seed — currently held by the Lakers, also five games ahead — and home court in the first round, is not laughable either.

The Warriors have one of the easier schedules remaining. They will basically add a dynamic player in Kuminga when he returns from a two-month-plus ankle injury. And Butler is still getting acclimated. So this current uptrend can continue.

But most importantly, as confirmed in Orlando, a monster has been awakened. One that has a history of using Feb. 27 as the launch for something special. Uh oh.

GO DEEPER

Hollinger: Steph Curry’s greatness is a scene worth savoring for as long as we can

(Top photo of Steph Curry after Thursday’s win: Fernando Medina / NBAE via Getty Images)