Chapter 120 Media Day

The new season was drawing nearer, and teams were starting to hold their media days.

This year, the Western Conference's competitiveness was unprecedented, and it was receiving an unparalleled level of attention.

In particular, the Rockets' press conference was a focal point for the media.

The "Big Three" of Paul, Harden, and Cousins made their appearance, drawing the eyes of the media.

Alongside the "Big Three" were Capela, Brewer, and new additions to the team like Tucker, Anderson, and West.

After forming their "Big Three," Morey once again showcased his talent for small trades.

First, he extended Brewer's contract with a three-year, $24 million deal, and then he made a trade with the Suns.

The Rockets sent Terrence Jones and Kostas Papanikolaou to the Suns in exchange for P.J. Tucker.

The Suns were rebuilding, and older role players like Tucker didn't fit their plans.

Papanikolaou had a non-guaranteed contract, so waiving him after the trade would free up salary cap space. Jones, on the other hand, was a potential young player.

This was essentially trading Tucker for Jones while also clearing space, which wasn't a bad deal for the rebuilding Suns.

Jones had performed well for the Rockets the previous year, but fans jokingly called him the "noob-crushing prince," saying that he couldn't handle tough games and had poor defense.

Cousins' defense wasn't great, so the Rockets were bringing in a defensive-minded swingman to cover for him.

After that, Morey followed up by signing Terry, Barmote, David West, Andre Miller, and others to minimum contracts in free agency.

Morey's moves were truly impressive. With a "Big Three," veterans naturally came to join, making the Rockets' roster quite competitive.

This kind of roster also made D'Antoni high-spirited at the media day.

"I know it's not appropriate to say this, but this team has no other goal than the championship."

This bold statement was used as a headline by many media outlets and sparked a heated discussion among fans.

Rockets fans were in high spirits, but many also criticized D'Antoni's big mouth.

It was indeed a bit of a jinx, but D'Antoni's words were understandable.

In the past few years, he had first gone to the Knicks to salvage the situation, and after failing, he moved to Los Angeles.

He had thought that he would succeed with the F4, but the conflict between Howard and Kobe made it seem like a pipe dream.

Now that he finally had a chance to make his mark with the Rockets, it was no surprise that he would say such a thing.

Besides the Rockets, the media days of the Warriors, Pelicans, and Spurs, the top teams in the Western Conference, also received a lot of attention.

The Warriors' roster remained largely unchanged this year. Coach Kerr led the team to a championship in his first year, so there was no need to change anything.

Defending the title was their only goal for the new season.

The Spurs also didn't have many roster changes, but with the addition of All-Star Aldridge, Spurs fans had enough confidence to contend for the title again.

In comparison, the Pelicans received a lot of attention.

Of course, the main attraction for the media wasn't the players. After all, the Pelicans' roster was similar to last year's, with not much change.

What attracted their attention was the Pelicans' coaching staff.

The handsome Stevens and Monty Williams, who went from head coach to first assistant coach, made for a coaching staff that was sure to generate buzz.

"I won't say anything about having to win a championship, because that's a bit of a jinx, but I know this team will go further than last year."

Stevens was still humble in front of the media, but his words were neither arrogant nor submissive, showing great skill.

"We are ready."

Tang Tian's statement was even more concise.

This sentence could be understood in many ways. It could mean they were ready for the new season, or ready to win a championship, or something else entirely.

But no matter what, it exuded a sense of confidence.

This confidence wasn't just in Tang Tian's words, but also on the faces of every Pelicans player.

It was truly from the heart, and the media reporters could deeply feel it.

After the media day, the Pelicans also took a set of player portraits.

In addition to individual photos, there were also some group photos.

For example, there were photos of Tang Tian and Davis, the two core players, Tang Tian, Davis, and Jokic, and the Pelicans' starting five.

Tang Tian was sitting and resting on the sidelines after finishing his shoot.

Bojan and Harris were taking photos as new additions to the team, and they looked very interesting.

The personalities of these two new players were exactly the same as they had shown on Twitter.

Bojan was the kind of person who was always laughing and outgoing, while Harris was very shy and reserved, a bit like Leonard when he was a rookie.

"Tang."

Holiday walked up to Tang Tian at this moment.

Tang Tian looked up and saw it was him, and greeted him with a smile.

"Thank you."

However, Holiday's opening words confused him.

Why was he thanking him right off the bat?

"My wife, I took her for a checkup a few days ago. She has a benign tumor in her brain. The doctor said that surgery can cure it. If you hadn't reminded me, I can't imagine what the consequences would have been."

Holiday explained.

Tang Tian then realized that it was about the matter he had mentioned to Holiday at the end of the season.

"That's good."

Tang Tian said with a smile.

He had only mentioned it out of kindness, but he didn't expect such quick results. He had originally planned to bring it up again after a while.

Now that there was such a good outcome, it was a good thing for both Holiday and the Pelicans.

After the portraits were taken, they quickly appeared on the covers of major media magazines.

And what was interesting this year was that TNT, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated all chose different teams for their magazine covers.

ESPN used the Rockets' "Big Three," TNT used the Warriors' starting five, and Sports Illustrated used a photo of the Pelicans' core duo plus Stevens.

On the Pelicans' magazine cover, Tang Tian was holding a ball in one hand with a murderous look in his eyes, while Davis was blocking a shot with both hands.

The image of one attacking and one defending vaguely gave people the feeling of Yao and McGrady side-by-side back in the day.

Plus, Stevens had his arms crossed, with a look of wisdom in his eyes.

Combined with the words "Pelicans Championship," the image was full of impact.

Sports Illustrated had far higher global sales than ESPN and TNT, and their choice of the Pelicans took into account the global market.

The results proved that their choice was completely correct.

In China, this issue of the magazine was completely sold out.

Everyone had a copy, and the scene of buying magazines to collect from the Yao-McGrady era was back.

Many students were discussing after class what stats Tang Tian would get in the new season, how much Jokic would improve, whether Davis's average score could break 20+, whether Bojan's three-point percentage would explode, how many wins the Pelicans could get, and so on.

Yao Ming had helped the Rockets build up a lot of popularity in China, but even with the Rockets forming a super "Big Three," the Pelicans were still their main team.