At that moment, no words were needed.
Everyone understood the same truth without saying it aloud: the torch had been passed.
Michael Jordan was the god of the past, while Li Fei was the one true god of the present—and the future.
The scepter of the league's best player was now firmly gripped in the hands of this Chinese giant.
The game began.
O'Neal easily won the opening tip for the Western Conference.
As always, the pace of the game was relaxed and entertaining.
After Jason Kidd got the ball, he did not even look at the basket before lofting it high. The basketball sailed over more than half the court toward the rim.
On the other side, Kobe immediately understood. He soared into the air and completed a reverse alley-oop dunk to open the game.
The Eastern Conference was not to be outdone. Iverson used his dazzling dribbling to toy with Gary Payton, drove into the paint, and, facing O'Neal's help defense, finished an extreme Up and Under layup.
The players freely displayed their talent on the court, with exquisite passes and unbelievable baskets appearing one after another.
Li Fei was happy to take it easy, spending more of his time setting up his teammates.
First, he and his club teammate Sabonis put on a textbook high-low combination on the All-Star court, assisting the latter for an easy score.
Then he fed Houston and Carter with consecutive brilliant passes, letting them fire away from outside.
Yet amid this peaceful atmosphere, two people had particularly different looks in their eyes.
Kobe and Iverson.
These two peerless stars of the Golden Generation of '96 treated the All-Star Game as a stage to prove themselves.
Every time Kobe received the ball, he was brimming with aggression.
His signature fadeaway jumper still found