219. Finals kick off!

"Someone has to win, why can't it be me?"

Upon hearing these words, countless fans in front of their TVs in China cheered.

After the 'Houston Collapsing Incident,' aside from the still bizarre reports from non-mainstream media, most of the domestic media had become more realistic. This allowed fans to understand the real situation of the NBA. Their expectations for the Chinese players competing in America were lowered, primarily relieving Yao Ming from undue pressure, and also letting domestic fans truly appreciate how outstanding Yao Ming's performances were and how challenging it was to achieve such records. Both Zhang Yang and the soon-to-be NBA player, Yi Jianlian, benefited from this mindset shift as well.

But 'opening their eyes to the world' had its drawbacks too. Domestic basketball fans felt disheartened realizing that even the best players from China were so far from winning a championship in the NBA.