The hurricane left New Orleans after sweeping through for five days.

Tang Tian's affluent neighborhood, located upstream, didn't suffer as much damage, but the downstream areas were hit hard.

Half of the Port of New Orleans was destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and 50 people died in the hurricane.

The disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 had barely faded when, ten years later, another such catastrophe struck. It was truly devastating for the people of New Orleans.

Many who still lived there questioned whether they should stay.

Just then, Tang Tian posted a message on his personal Twitter account.

He would establish the Tang Tian and Olsen Global Foundation, investing $10 million as the foundation's initial capital.

The foundation's first funds would be used for post-disaster reconstruction in New Orleans.

After Tang Tian's tweet, many NBA stars immediately came forward to support him.

Kobe was the first to reply on Twitter, pledging to donate $1 million to the foundation.

Stars such as James, Harden, Wade, and Duncan all retweeted and expressed their willingness to donate.

In the face of disaster, grudges became insignificant.

In Hollywood, the first person to stand up was Emma Watson.

When Tang Tian sent the tweet, Watson called to ask about his condition and immediately donated $500,000 to the foundation.

Following her were Scott and Yates, who, after donating money and retweeting, also called on Hollywood stars to participate.

After that, wealthy people from New Orleans and surrounding cities also donated.

Even many fans in China expressed their support, with Lin Huanyu personally donating 10 million, living up to his reputation as a super-rich second generation.

Tang Tian also instructed Carl to use the money raised by the foundation as soon as possible and to be transparent.

This approach greatly encouraged the disaster victims in New Orleans.

Soon, New Orleans Mayor Jeff Hunter also invited Tang Tian to the front lines of the disaster relief efforts.

Tang Tian's appearance was greeted with cheers from the disaster victims.

He had already built up a huge following in New Orleans in the past two years, and now he had become a source of confidence for these disaster victims.

"The spiritual pillar of New Orleans."

"He's not just a basketball star, he's a hero of New Orleans."

"The significance of a Chinese to a city, from Chinatown to the foundation, he's a symbol of New Orleans."

…

The media also heavily promoted Tang Tian.

However, after experiencing such a disaster, this kind of promotion had a very positive effect.

It's no exaggeration to say that he strengthened many people's confidence in continuing to live in New Orleans.

Post-disaster reconstruction would be a long process, and Tang Tian had Carl devote himself wholeheartedly to the foundation's operations.

He and the training brothers continued to train.

This disaster made Tang Tian even more determined for the new season.

If they could bring the first NBA championship to the city during the post-disaster reconstruction process, the encouragement to the city would be unprecedented.

Just like when the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010, although it was a full five years after Hurricane Katrina, it still brought great encouragement to the post-disaster reconstruction of New Orleans.

If they could win the championship in the first year after the disaster, the impact would be even greater.

On the first day of training, Butler performed exceptionally hard.

After the training session, the others all went home with Tang Tian, but Butler didn't leave.

"I'm staying at the training facility tonight."

These were Butler's words to Tang Tian.

"I've lost a week of training time, and I need to make it up."

This week naturally referred to the time during the hurricane.

Butler felt that he had wasted a week and wanted to make it up by training harder!

Sure enough, this guy's attitude towards training was unmatched.

However, knowing Butler's personality, Tang Tian wasn't too surprised.

The next day, Jokic also slept at the training facility.

Considering his previous "record," this seemed reasonable.

As for Butler, he finally found someone to keep him company.

The post-disaster reconstruction of New Orleans was progressing in an orderly manner, and their training camp was filled with sweat.

Tang Tian's parents returned to China soon after, and Tang Tian devoted more time to training.

Time flew by, and it was already mid-September. After more than a month, their training results were significant.

McGee's defense was noticeably better than before, and Davis's low-post offense had become much more skilled.

Tang Tian's triple threat was also adapting very well.

The Pelicans' roster changes during the summer weren't significant, but their overall strength steadily improved.

In mid-September, the training camp ended, and Walker and the others were preparing to leave New Orleans.

"You have to beat Klay, that guy."

After "enduring" Thompson's "bragging" all summer, Irving couldn't help but say to Tang Tian before leaving.

"Don't worry, I'll meet you in the Finals."

Thompson continued his "bragging," winking at Irving with a smile.

"No, I'm the one who's going to the Finals this year."

Butler added.

Walker shook his head with a wry smile. These guys were all vying for the championship this year.

But as he smiled, he felt a little sad.

He seemed to be the only one who had fallen behind.

Tang Tian went over and patted him on the shoulder.

"You need to beat Kyrie."

Hearing Tang Tian's words, Walker nodded firmly.

The others were all in the West, while only he and Irving were in the East.

He and Tang Tian had defeated Duke together at UConn, and he would defeat the Cavaliers this year.

Nothing was impossible unless you didn't dare to think about it.

The new season would be a battle for the championship among heroes, and also a battle for the championship among their five brothers.

With the end of the training camp, the Pelicans' training camp also began.

Tang Tian chose to end the training camp at this time in order to avoid interrupting his and Davis's training.

On the first day of training camp, except for the newly signed Bojan and Joe Harris who hadn't arrived yet, all the remaining players were there.

Losing to the Warriors last season made them even more unwilling than losing to the Grizzlies before. This season, their desire to beat the Warriors and win the championship was stronger than ever.

Stevens would arrive in two days, and the assistant coach would lead them in training for these two days.

However, to the surprise of most of the players, their assistant coach was none other than Monty Williams!

After Williams was fired by the Pelicans, and like Mark Jackson before him, he didn't receive offers from other teams due to his lack of tactical acumen.

Mark Jackson could still return to TNT to continue his commentary, but Williams was essentially unemployed.

At this time, becoming an assistant coach for a team was his best option.

It was also at this time that Demps, after communicating with Stevens, went to see Williams together.

After some discussion, Demps offered him a generous four-year, $5 million assistant coach contract, and Williams agreed to return to the Pelicans as the first assistant coach.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and train. Don't you want revenge? Don't you want to win the championship?"

Williams looked at the players' surprised expressions and shouted directly.

Going from head coach to first assistant coach, and returning to the original team, was something that many people couldn't accept.

But Williams accepted it, and it was clear that he had thought it through.

If he was going to be an assistant coach anyway, he might as well stay in a familiar place and get a decent salary.

Moreover, he was also very unwilling to have lost last season.