Within fifteen minutes of the game ending, every sports media outlet in the United States was doing the same thing—putting Li Fei's name in the headlines.
Not "Knicks Win," not "2-0," not "NBA Finals."
It was "Li Fei." It was "Fifty-Five Points." It was "Game-Winner." It was "Buzzer-Beater."
On ESPN's homepage, one enormous photograph filled the entire screen.
It was not the instant Li Fei took the shot, nor the instant the ball went through the net. It was the moment afterward, when Li Fei stood on the court with his hands on his hips, his expression calm.
Behind him, twenty thousand fans at Madison Square Garden were erupting. Some were on their knees, some were jumping, some were clutching their heads, some had their mouths hanging open.
Everyone's emotions were exploding. Only Li Fei stood there like a statue.
The headline read: "Fifty-five points. Buzzer-beating game-winner. 2-0. Li Fei turned the NBA Finals into a one-man stage."
TNT's homepage was more emotional.
Their photo captured the instant after Li Fei made the game-winner, with the basketball still spinning through the air—his body slightly leaning back, his right hand still held in its follow-through, wrist gently pressed downward. O'Neal's hand had reached his face, but the ball had already left his fingertips.
The image had been given cool tones, carrying the feeling that time had frozen.
The headline read: "He is only twenty-three. He no longer needs to prove anything. Yet he keeps proving it."
Woj's column went live within ten minutes of the final whistle. It was a lengthy piece, but its first sentence set the tone: "What we are witnessing is not greatness, but something beyond greatness. Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Madison Square Garden: Li Fei, fifty-five points, twelve rebounds, seven assists, four blocks. Thirty-seven points