In late April, under the dome of Boston's New Garden, no miracle occurred.
The suspense of the first round of the playoffs was completely extinguished in the third quarter of the first game. Facing the Miami Heat, who were full of youthful vigor, Rick Carlisle's Boston Celtics showed what true domination looks like.
Miami's young core players fought incredibly hard. Caron Butler displayed extremely tough tenacity on the wing, Sean Battier used his high-IQ defense to try and limit Chris Paul Pierce's isolation plays, and Eddie Stephen Curry, who successfully lost weight under Pat Riley's rigorous training, truly showed impressive low-post footwork.
But that's far from enough. The fighting spirit that worked in the regular season appears thin and fragile in the face of the defensive pressure at the playoff level.
Garnett and Ben Wallace combined to turn the paint into a no-fly zone, while Pierce repeatedly dismantled the Heat's defense with his step-back jumpers. Four-nil. The Boston Celtics swept the series without batting an eye and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Meanwhile, far across the Pacific Ocean, in southeastern coastal China...
A black minivan was parked in a large industrial park in Jinjiang, Fujian. Lin Qi, wearing a simple white shirt, was walking beside a roaring sneaker production line. The air was filled with the pungent smell of raw glue and hot melt rubber. The factory's exhaust fans made a dull whirring sound, but in this high-intensity working environment, most of the workers' faces were covered with numb sweat.
"Mr. Lin, we just introduced this fully automated production line last month," the accompanying factory owner explained enthusiastically. "Not only is the cold-bonding process up to standard, but the foaming technology for the midsole is also fully compliant. Once your design drawings arrive, a monthly production capacity of 300,000 pairs is definitely not a problem, and the cost can be kept to a minimum."
Lin Qi casually picked up a half-finished sneaker and pressed down hard on the cushioning material in the midsole. The quality far exceeded his expectations; the manufacturing cost was indeed surprisingly low.
He put down his sneakers and turned to look at the factory owner beside him.
"I can give you all the orders, and our production capacity will even double in the future." Lin Qi's tone was calm, but it conveyed a resolute determination that left no room for negotiation. "But I have two conditions."
The boss's face lit up with joy, and he nodded quickly. "Please tell us, we'll definitely cooperate as long as it's within our capabilities."
"First, the entire factory's ventilation and exhaust system and work environment must be completely renovated to meet the highest industrial health standards." Lin Qi pointed to the workers applying glue not far away. "Second, all employees on the assembly line, regardless of whether they are permanent or temporary workers, must have their social insurance and housing fund contributions paid in full."
The factory owner was stunned, his smile instantly freezing. In the OEM industry of 2003, the competition was all about squeezing cheap labor to the limit. Paying social insurance and housing fund contributions for all assembly line workers? That would drastically reduce their profit margins.
"Mr. Lin, this... this will increase costs significantly. That's the rule in our industry..."
"I'm not doing this for a quick buck," Lin Qi interrupted him. "What I'm building is a global sports brand with stable production capacity, one that will absolutely not allow any public relations crisis caused by a 'sweatshop' scandal in the future. If you resolve the workers' concerns, they will produce the sneakers with the lowest defect rate for me. If you can't do that, there are plenty of factories in China willing to take on this long-term business."
The boss wiped the cold sweat from his brow, weighing the unimaginably massive order volume behind Lin Qi, and finally gritted his teeth and nodded. "No problem, Mr. Lin, we'll do as you say."
Leaving the roaring factory, Lin Qi got into the back seat of the van, took out his satellite phone, and dialed the number of Maurizio Gherardini, the president of EBA, who was preparing to return to Europe.
" Maurizio, China is just the first step." Lin Qi looked out the window at the street scenes rushing by, his strategic map rapidly expanding outwards. "Next, you need to extend the tentacles of EBA youth training to other populous but economically underdeveloped regions around the world."
Gherardini on the other end of the phone immediately understood. "You mean Africa? India?"
"That's right. Establish a long-term scouting network and training camp there." Lin Qi methodically issued the instructions. "Bring them out and directly into the Europe second division to hone their tactics and discipline. Also, take a trip to the United Kingdom."
" United Kingdom?" Gherardini, somewhat surprised. "The basketball scene in the United Kingdom is practically barren; they care more about football."
"Precisely because it's a desert, the clubs there are incredibly cheap. With a little money, we can acquire a few teams from the United Kingdom Basketball League and completely transform them into 'subsidiary G League ' and training grounds for the EBA youth training program. We can also put those half-baked players we recruited from India and Africa, who haven't fully adapted to high-level competition, into the United Kingdom league to hone their skills."
Gherardini took a deep breath on the other end of the phone. He had completely grasped Lin Qi's ambition.
By leveraging its global infrastructure to retain talent and then utilizing the home markets of these gifted players, the EBA can broadcast its signals worldwide. If broadcast revenue and Lin Qi's shoe sponsorships experience explosive growth, the EBA can accomplish what was previously impossible: exponentially increasing player salaries.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Qi leaned back in his leather seat and closed his eyes.
Once this system is fully operational, the landscape of Europe basketball will be completely transformed in the next decade or so.
By then, there would be that seemingly flabby Serbia big man (Nikola Jokic ) with mediocre athleticism, yet capable of controlling the game from the top of the key like a chess grandmaster, redefining the "point center." There would also be that Slovenian prodigy ( Luka Dončić Dončić ) who displayed seasoned court vision at just eighteen, dominating the game with astonishing rhythm. And there would be that France "alien" (Viktor Wembanyama ) who, despite being over 2.2 meters tall, could execute crossover 3-pointers like a guard, practically cheating in basketball...
In the original history, these groundbreaking Europe talents all eventually went to the NBA because of the highest salaries and exposure.
But now, if the future EBA can also offer multi-million dollar max contracts and possess a vast global commercial network, why would these superstars, who grew up in the Europe system, leave their homes and play in the NBA, a league established by David Stern and Adam Silver that increasingly relies on minor fouls and resembles Hollywood reality show?
Lin Qi aims to personally break the NBA's monopoly on the world's top basketball resources and build a behemoth in Eurasia that can truly rival North America.