Against this backdrop, this season's game was about to take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The game had originally been scheduled to tip off at 9:30 a.m. Beijing time on April 13.
It wasn't going to be broadcast nationwide, either.
But the game mattered because the Raptors were chasing an 82–0 record, a historic achievement.
So the league had temporarily pushed the game back by two hours.
They had also changed it to a nationwide live broadcast.
As a result, every other team's game would be over, leaving this as the only one still underway. The eyes of the entire world would be fixed on it.
For China, this was the China Derby.
It was a clash between Wang Yi and Pang Bo.
So the game was being broadcast not only on the Wushuang Platform, but also on TikTok.
CCTV was broadcasting it as well.
And not just on CCTV—the game was being broadcast directly on CCTV-1 for the first time ever.
After all, almost anywhere with a television could receive CCTV-1.
CCTV was doing this so that more viewers across the country could watch Wang Yi play.
The record of going undefeated through an entire 82-game season in the American league might well be set by Chinese people. That would be an immense source of pride for the whole country.
Add in the Chinese players facing off against each other, too.
Naturally, that was sure to draw even more attention.
By now, the NBA president was Tan Huimin, a Chinese descendant.
To expand its commercial reach, the NBA had ultimately chosen a Chinese descendant to serve as its president.
A Chinese descendant would be more likely to earn goodwill from China, and Wang Yi's every word and action now had a major influence on NBA revenue.