"You know, if we beat the United States, I'm retiring right away. Because that's the pinnacle, I couldn't possibly do better than that."
A few hours before the host China faced off against Team USA in their group match, Yao Ming discussed in an interview what would happen if they won against the Americans.
This was yet another display of Yao Ming's famous sense of humor.
"If there's one fan left for Yao Ming on this planet, that's me. If he retires, I would cease to exist as well," Yu Fei responded to Yao Ming's remarks, "So, to prevent him from retiring, we will win the first match."
For the sports world, the Olympic group match between China's and the United States' men's basketball teams was a historically significant and globally impactful basketball game.
But the result was not suspenseful.