Ray Allen's remarks swiftly made the front pages of major sports newspapers across the United States the next day.
The New York Knicks had advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, just as everyone had expected at the start of the season.
But no one had imagined the process would be so brutal, so utterly devoid of suspense.
3–0!
A clean sweep without dropping a single game!
With the Knicks powering into the next round, the commercial machinery of the entire city of New York spun into overdrive.
In Manhattan, inside a luxurious duplex apartment beside Central Park.
Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, New York's nightscape glittered like a galaxy, neon lights casting shimmering halos across the Hudson River.
Dressed in a loose silk robe, Li Fei lounged on a leather sofa handcrafted in Italy.
His face, as perfect as an ancient Greek sculpture, held a trace of contentment from his recent bath.
In the open kitchen behind him, Italy's treasured actress Monica Bellucci, hailed as "the most beautiful woman on Earth," wore an oversized white men's shirt. Barefoot on an expensive Persian rug, she was letting a costly bottle of Romanee-Conti breathe for him.
The limited-edition satellite phone on the coffee table rang.
Li Fei casually picked it up, and the voice of his agent and Li Fei Brand's operations chief, David Falk, came through, so excited it nearly cracked.
"Li! Have you read today's Wall Street Journal?!"
"No. Those boring numbers don't interest me," Li Fei replied flatly, accepting the wineglass Monica Bellucci offered him and taking a small sip.
"Oh, my God! You're a business genius! Thanks to your 55-point massacre last night, plus that 'perfect assist' from Ray Allen at the press conference, Li Fei Sports Brand's stock shot up fifteen percent at