Toyota Center.
The Elite Eight battle for a Final Four berth had landed in an NBA-caliber arena.
All 23,000 seats were filled.
Red and blue fans split the building in half, their cheers already at full volume an hour before tip-off.
During warm-ups a single unmistakable silhouette walked in and detonated the crowd.
Yao Ming, dressed in a deep-blue casual suit, walked in beside Steve Francis in full hip-hop gear.
The two Houston Rockets legends had carved time out of their own NBA schedules just to watch this one college game live.
Reporters who had been waiting for this exact moment swarmed instantly.
Microphones and cameras locked onto Yao.
“Yao!” “Welcome to March Madness.
Who did you come here specifically to see?” Yao’s big square face broke into that famous calm smile.
“Man, that question is about as necessary as asking if I ate dinner tonight.
Standing here, give me one good reason I wouldn’t come to watch Rex.” A legend showing up for a kid needed no further explanation.
The reporter pressed immediately.
“Yao, some people are already calling him the next Yao Ming.
Do you accept that comparison?” “No.” The answer was instant and clean.
The reporter’s eyes lit up.
“You mean he’ll surpass you?” Most fans already believed Rex was the next Shaq, not the next Yao.
Surpassing Yao was therefore not a shocking idea.
Yao simply shook his head again.
“I mean he’ll surpass everyone.” “He is one of a kind.” Yao’s “surpass anyone” take immediately set the TNT booth on fire.
“Ohhh, listen to that!
Yao just put the kid on a pedestal!” Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were already loud.
“I can smell a young storm coming,” Barkley said.
“All four of these kids have NBA bodies.
Shumpert is a top-tier 3-and-D dog.
Favors is a projected top-three pick—power, bounce, length, all elite.” Barkley kept rolling.
“But Georgia Tech’s whole scheme is already in trouble.
Their biggest problem is using a 6’10” Derrick Favors at center.” “Don’t forget—Rex is built like a real center.
7’1″, 265 pounds.
The height gap is massive.” “Let’s save the analysis for later, Charles,” Kenny Smith cut in.
“The game’s about to start.” “Last time in Philly, Rex hit that 2.7-second tip-off alley-oop.
Tonight Favors has elite bounce and moves way better than Monroe.
That play might finally die.” The officials walked out.
Center-court tip-off.
The ball went up.
BOOM.
Favors exploded off the floor with everything he had, fingertips reaching for the leather.
A sudden rush of air answered him.
The pure vertical burst of the Murasakibara template did not care about physics.
Rex rose later and still touched it first.
One fingertip redirected the ball cleanly back to Paul George at half-court.
Favors’ face changed in mid-air.
The second Rex’s feet hit the floor he was already gone—two powerful strides and every perimeter defender was trailing smoke.
He filled the lane at full speed.
Paul George caught and never hesitated.
One long outlet pass.
The entire building—fans, announcers, Yao himself—rose as one.
Rex left the floor.
A help-side wing tried to contest.
Rex simply snatched the ball with one hand and hammered it through with pure violence.
KRA-BOOM——!!
The rim bent hard.
The sound cracked through the arena.
Three seconds.
Tip-off alley-oop over a fully prepared defense.
“OH!
MY!
GOD!” Barkley was screaming.
“I thought the tip-off lob was dead!
They were ready for it!
And Rex still forced it through!” “I take it back!
I take every word back!” Kenny Smith matched the volume.
“Favors is fast.
Rex’s speed just violates the laws of physics!” In the VIP seats Steve Francis sat with his mouth open.
Years in the league and he had never seen anything like it.
“Steve,” Yao said while clapping, voice full of quiet certainty, “this is exactly why I said he will surpass everyone.” “Power, speed, and size fused into one body.
That combination cannot be copied.
He is destined to be singular.” The pace stayed blistering.
Georgia Tech possession.
Iman Shumpert fought through contact and forced a contested mid-range jumper.
The ball clanged off the rim.
Both bigs rose for the rebound.
Favors timed it perfectly, eyes clear, hands ready.
Then the light above the rim disappeared.
A massive shadow swallowed the paint.
Rex’s frame sealed the entire cylinder.
Wingspan and shoulders blotted out the backboard.
Favors looked up and had one clear thought: Did the lights just go out?
Rex plucked the rebound with one hand, landed, and immediately fired the outlet to Paul George.
Two possessions.
Favors already understood the truth.
They were not the same species of player.
Fresno half-court set.
The point guard fed Rex on the left block.
The second the ball touched his hands, Shumpert abandoned the perimeter.
He and Favors clamped Rex from both sides, bodies locked against his waist, trying to erase any spin space.
Double-team.
Less than a minute into the game Georgia Tech had already gone to the highest form of defensive respect.
The crowd roared in disbelief.
“Oh my God!
They’re doubling him on the first post touch!” Barkley’s voice jumped an octave.
“Opening possession of the half-court offense and they’re already sending two bodies.
That is the ultimate defensive honor.” Kenny Smith nodded.
“They already decided Favors cannot guard him one-on-one.
No choice but to trap.” The entire arena held its breath.
Everyone wanted to know if the double could stop the monster.
The ball hit Rex’s hands.
He felt the pressure from both sides.
Then he dropped his shoulder, sank his hips, and drove that thick frame backward like a wrecking ball.
Favors’ center of gravity vanished.
Rex used the contact, spun half a step, and rose.
Destructive Hammer ignited at full power.
BOOM——!!
He dunked straight through both Favors and Shumpert.
The rim exploded.
Two points.
The force of the collision dumped Favors onto the floor.
The whistle blew at the same instant.
And-one.
“OHHHHHHH!” “Even against the double he still posterized both of them!” Barkley was already machine-gunning jokes.
“Proof is in.
If Rex catches the ball in the paint, the ball is going in the basket.” “It’s the same as cacti in Phoenix, traffic in Los Angeles, and doughnuts on my plate.” “An unbreakable law of the universe!”