Caitlin Clark just pulled up to Chase Center and let one fly, yelling “Curry!” as the shot splashed through—just another day at the office for the WNBA’s rising queen of the deep three. But don’t get it twisted—she’s not getting the royal welcome. Especially not from Golden State Valkyries loyalist and Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski, who’s already sharpening his tongue for what’s about to be a wild showdown in San Francisco.

After torching the Liberty and torching the Sun like a flamethrower in designer sneakers, Clark and the Indiana Fever are 2-0 since her return from a quad injury. With a trip to the Commissioner’s Cup Final locked in, Clark’s been hotter than Steph Curry during that 2015-2016 MVP run—and yes, that comparison isn’t just lazy clickbait. But before we even get into the basketball poetry of it all, let’s talk trash. Because apparently, Podz has plans.

Brandin Podziemski—aka the Warriors’ energetic shooting guard and Steph Curry’s spiritual apprentice—isn’t keeping things classy tonight.

“Oh yeah, of course. I’ll always be doing that,” Podziemski said, grinning when asked if he’d heckle Caitlin Clark. “I gotta find something. It’s in the moment, whatever comes out, but I’ll always be with the Valkyries.”

If that doesn’t scream “annoying little brother energy,” nothing does. And that’s not a dig—Curry himself described Podziemski with the same phrase during a CBS interview. The two share a locker room bond, where Podziemski admits to obsessively studying Curry’s habits. From poise to shot selection to post-practice routines, Podz is literally walking in Steph’s size 13s. His goal? To eventually carry the same torch Curry lit when he rewrote the rules of perimeter basketball.

Caitlin Clark: Steph Curry 2.0 or a Whole New Blueprint?

Let’s break down why this matchup feels like watching a Marvel crossover episode featuring multiverse variants of Stephen Curry. Clark’s been lighting it up with averages of 21.3 points, 8.7 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting a preposterous 40% from beyond the arc. If your eyes just popped out, they should. Because she’s only a few games back from injury, and she’s already turned playoff-hungry Indiana into one of the W’s biggest threats.

This isn’t just about numbers either. Like Curry, Clark has that frustrating kind of unpredictability that defenders hate. As Podziemski put it: “Very similar. The threat of them shooting is always in the back of your brain, so any head fake or hesi they give you, you tend to bite at that. You’re antsy guarding them.”

The girl’s got gravity. And just like Steph, every time she crosses half court, you hear a collective gulp from the defense.

Clark may yell “Curry” when she swishes a three, but she’s also channeling his resilience. Much like the early years of Curry’s career—where guys would throw the kitchen sink, toolbox, and five elbows at him—Clark has been taking hits and responding with buckets.

After a recent dust-up with the Connecticut Sun, where she was poked in the eye and shoved, Clark shoved back, earning a technical. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols went full NBA mode on her podcast: “That’s the Steph Curry defensive treatment. You don’t try to outskill Steph, you try to out-physical him. Same’s happening with Caitlin.” But let’s not mistake that for a weakness. Nichols continued: “She might be her own enforcer. I don’t worry about her toughness. She’s handling it.”

Even national reporter Seerat Sohi said on her The Ringer podcast, “It’s showtime. It kind of reminds me a little bit of the 2015 early Steph Curry, pre-KD era Warriors, the 2016 team in particular that won 73 games. Just the way that everywhere they went, they were like The Beatles because of the way that their play style coalesced around like the electric shooting and the playmaking of Steph Curry.”

This isn’t the NCAA anymore—there are no soft fouls and friendly whistles. The WNBA is a grown woman’s league, and Caitlin Clark’s been handling it like Curry did in Game 6 against OKC in 2016—just shooting and shrugging while the world implodes around her.

When Clark walked into the Chase Center—the literal cathedral of Steph Curry’s legacy—and drilled a shot while yelling “Curry!”, it felt full circle. The same floor where Steph made defenders look like confused traffic cones is now Clark’s proving ground.

Steph has taken notice. In an interview on CBS Mornings, Curry praised Clark’s balance and shot-making ability: “Her shot is like that and at that level… no matter where you’re shooting from, she’s always in balance.”

And he’s not alone. Steve Kerr and Stephen A. Smith have both dubbed Clark “the Steph Curry of women’s basketball,” though Clark’s not exactly living in that shadow. She models parts of her game after Curry, sure, but also looks up to Maya Moore, blending style with relentless drive.

And while her shooting stats are spicy—40% from deep, 44.7% from the field—she’s also dishing nearly 9 assists a game. The girl doesn’t just cook; she serves full-course meals.

Tonight’s matchup may look like fun and games on the surface—a tribute here, a joke there—but Clark is on a mission. After last year’s playoff disappointment and an offseason strength surge, she’s leveled up. Think Steph between the 2013 ankle injuries and the 2015 MVP season—stronger, sharper, and totally unbothered by contact.

And if Brandin Podziemski thinks some locker room heckles are enough to throw her off, he’s got another thing coming. This is Steph’s house—but Clark? She’s not just renting the place. She might be flipping it entirely.

Clark and Curry might be on different coasts of their careers, but the DNA of their games is nearly identical—shooting range from Saturn, poise under pressure, and a magnetism that breaks defensive schemes. Whether it’s heckles from Podziemski or body-checks from opposing guards, Caitlin Clark keeps doing what Steph Curry has done for years: answering chaos with buckets.