Wang Yi had originally turned down several events and planned to head straight back to China, but two days before his return, he received an invitation from Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaquille O'Neal invited him to appear on his Shaq Challenge Show.
On the Shaq Challenge Show, Shaquille O'Neal challenged top competitors from all kinds of fields around the world. He had once challenged a boxing champion, taken on Olympic Champion Phelps in the pool, and faced Messi on the soccer field. He had even wanted to challenge Armstrong, the Tour de France champion.
He had mostly challenged competitors from fields outside basketball.
But this time, riding the wave of Wang Yi's championship win, he planned to challenge Wang Yi.
And this time, it would be in basketball.
Besides challenging Wang Yi, he had invited another player too: Michael Jordan.
For years, fans had always debated questions like these: Could Shaquille O'Neal in his prime beat Wang Yi? Could Wang Yi beat Jordan in his prime?
Of course, viewers would never get to see a matchup like Guan Yu against Qin Qiong. But Shaq Show made it possible.
Although Shaquille O'Neal and Jordan were both long past their primes, certain rule adjustments could let the three of them compete against each other under relatively fair conditions.
Given their fame and influence in the basketball world, it was easy to imagine how many viewers this Shaq Challenge Show showdown would attract.
In the past, Shaquille O'Neal would always spend a week in professional training before a challenge.
But he didn't need to train for basketball.
On July 10, Wang Yi and Shaquille O'Neal arrived at Venice Beach Court together.
As soon as they got there, they heard the waves crashing and the seagulls calling, accompanied by the thumping beat of hip-hop music.
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