That had something to do with the city of New Orleans.

New Orleans was built at the mouth of a river, with swamps beneath the ground, making the ground prone to subsidence and the roads potholed. There weren't many places where large buildings could be built, hence this rare sight.

The arena was oval-shaped with the entrance on the north side. He greeted the security guard at the door and went in, only to find that he was the first to arrive.

Walking through the hall, he saw some large posters of the team on the wall.

There were ones of Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis, but to his surprise, the largest one was of Paul.

Paul had been gone from New Orleans for two years, but his poster was still there.

It seemed that his influence in this city, or in the hearts of these fans, was higher than he had expected.

But that was also reasonable. This team didn't have a long history, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Paul was the best player in team history.

The arena needed to sell tickets, so it was normal to keep it.

It seemed that this season, in addition to proving himself, he also had to replace Paul in the hearts of New Orleans fans.

He passed through the tunnel and arrived at the team's locker room.

Unlike the Spurs' locker room, which was like a college locker room, the Pelicans' locker room was obviously much more luxurious and newer.

The arena itself was new. When Hurricane Katrina swept through in 2005, the arena was severely damaged, and the locker room floors and walls were all soaked in water. It was all renovated at that time.

So going in gave people a bright feeling.

And the place was big, without the cramped feeling of the AT&T Center.

In front of the locker room was a large TV, giving it a modern feel.

But what surprised him most was that he found his locker!

"tt"

Tang Tian's pinyin abbreviation, right next to Davis's locker, with Eric Gordon's on the other side.

From this arrangement, it could be seen that Williams's words about cultivating him into the team's outside core were true.

Even the jerseys and other things were already hanging in the locker.

This treatment was really core treatment.

Because of his choice to join the Pelicans, he had been questioned by many fans, but the Pelicans' careful preparation made him feel that his choice was really worth it.

He began to change into his training jersey in the locker room.

Just then, someone pushed the door open and came in.

It was Davis, the big-eyed, thick-browed guy he knew on the Pelicans.

Davis had just entered the league at this time, didn't have long hair or a beard, and looked really conspicuous.

"You actually found the locker room on your first try."

Davis said in surprise as he came in.

"Yeah..."

Tang Tian glanced at Davis, you couldn't even find the locker room when you first came?

"When I first came, I even went into the women's locker room. There are too many rooms here, much more than in Kentucky."

"..."

Tang Tian held back his laughter. Are you sure you're just cute, and not doing it on purpose?

After a while, other players came in one after another.

Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday, Aminu, Jason Smith, Anthony Morrow.

These were all the core players of the Pelicans this season.

Speaking of which, the Pelicans were one of the teams with the biggest roster changes in the offseason.

Of the five starters from last season, Vasquez and Robin Lopez had all left, and Holiday had just been traded over.

Tang Tian sat on the bench, and players came over to greet him one after another.

The atmosphere of this team, from Davis, to Holiday, to Anderson, was inexplicably harmonious.

This feeling was a bit like the Spurs, but not quite the same.

Probably the biggest difference was that there was no one like Ginobili here to flirt and tease.

It wasn't a full house on the first day of training camp. Rivers and a few other players hadn't arrived yet.

But having so many people on the first day of training camp was already pretty good in the league.

You have to know that the Pelicans weren't a championship-contending team like the Spurs. They were the second-to-last team in the Western Conference last season, with only 27 wins.

After the players changed into their jerseys one after another, head coach Monty Williams and assistant coach James Borrego came to the locker room.

Williams, Tang Tian had met before, but he was actually only in his early 40s, one of the youngest coaches in the league.

Assistant coach James Borrego was even younger, under 40, and quite handsome, looking a bit like Shia LaBeouf, the star of the first three *Transformers* movies.

To put it nicely, the Pelicans' coaching staff was youthful and energetic; to put it bluntly, they were inexperienced and immature.

But the coaching staff wasn't really important to Tang Tian.

When he decided to leave the Spurs, he had already planned his future role as a player-coach.

Moreover, Williams, at least, was a very humble coach, willing to listen, and that was enough.

"Guys, we didn't perform well last season, but that's not important anymore, because we're very different from last season.

We've welcomed two very important new members, Jrue, who is an All-Star player; Tang, who is an All-Star starter, Defensive Player of the Year, and two-time champion.

They've already achieved great things, but like the rest of the team, like our team, they're all young.

We may not be able to win the championship this season, but the future is worth looking forward to. I believe in you, I sincerely believe in you, that we can do great things."

Tang Tian's eyes showed a hint of surprise and appreciation after listening to Williams' words.

So Williams wasn't just good at developing players, his pep talk was also pretty good.

This was a pleasant surprise.

But before he could finish his praise, Williams called on him.

"Tang is the only one on this team who has championship experience. I believe he should have some understanding."

This wasn't agreed upon beforehand, and the question came a bit suddenly, but Tang Tian had seen all kinds of big scenes. He was only slightly surprised, then stood up.

The other players all looked at Tang Tian. It was rare for a coach to ask someone to give a speech as soon as they arrived.

"The coach's speech was inspiring. To be honest, in the two years I was with the Spurs, I never heard such an infectious speech. You know, that's a team led by an old guy with a bunch of old guys. They don't need that."

Tang Tian's first sentence made everyone in the locker room laugh.

In a mild-mannered team atmosphere, he was probably the only one with a sense of humor.

"But I think there's one thing the coach said that's worth discussing: a young team can also chase a championship."

Tang Tian's next words made Williams pout, his expression as if to say, "You're the one calling the shots."

The players laughed again. Tang Tian really seemed to have a sense of humor.

"I'm not joking with this sentence, nor am I exaggerating. Experience can be accumulated through games, and games can also use effort to make up for experience. The reason I say this is because I've done it before.

Yes, I really did it. Before helping the Spurs win two consecutive championships, I won the final championship in the NCAA with a similarly young team."

Tang Tian continued.

ps: Sorry everyone, I'll try to write 2 more chapters today.