Chapter 1007 Celebration

Tang Tian smiled as he looked at Russell. The Lord of the Rings was building momentum for him.

However, Russell building momentum was just his own wishful thinking. He couldn't possibly move Xiao Hua or Tatum.

This official certification was very persuasive.

Amidst cheers, Tang Tian raised the FMVP trophy, eliciting another overwhelming roar from the audience.

Tonight in New Orleans was destined to be a night of revelry.

After the cheers subsided, Tang Tian delivered his acceptance speech.

He had already thanked those he needed to thank, and this time he focused on praising Davis and James.

Last year's selection was unanimous.

But this year, he only received 9 votes from 11 media outlets, with the remaining 2 going to Davis and James.

Although the Cavaliers lost this year, James didn't.

He averaged 33.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in five games, almost averaging a triple-double.

And in the final game, he also broke his playoff scoring record with 51 points.

If anyone on the Cavaliers could leave the court with their head held high, it would only be him.

"LeBron is one of the strongest opponents I've ever faced. I enjoy playing against him, and I look forward to playing against him again."

Tang Tian used such adjectives when evaluating James.

Based on the current league structure, there would be many opportunities for the Pelicans and Cavaliers to meet in the Finals.

What he said made perfect sense.

"Ad, I'm going to settle the score with you for that vote."

Tang Tian first jokingly questioned Davis about his vote.

But immediately afterward, he began his daily hype mode, praising Davis to the heavens.

If people didn't know the final result of the FMVP, they would have thought Davis had won.

Of course, as a reward, after the FMVP awards ceremony, Davis returned to the locker room and snatched up tonight's expenses from Tang Tian.

He paid for the team's trip to the nightclub tonight.

This kind of atmosphere was extremely rare, but with the team's boss and second-in-command both having this attitude, the Pelicans' team atmosphere was truly excellent.

Many of the Pelicans' management also went, and they were the most relaxed this year.

The extensions that needed to be done were already done last summer. Barring any accidents, they would just need to finalize a few bench players this year and then wait to extend Jokic next year.

However, they also had some worries.

The championship parade.

This was a happy trouble.

They had already done the boat parade last year, and Tang Tian's Mars plan was also used. It would be difficult to come up with something new this year.

Tang Tian didn't want to participate in the parade, and even the draft afterward, because the team didn't have a first-round pick, he even planned to just provide a few candidates and then go on vacation with Olsen in advance.

After winning the championship, he thanked Olsen for her contributions.

But these things wouldn't just be verbal, there had to be action.

Last year, he took the Pelicans' players on vacation to Hawaii, and this year he planned to take Olsen and their two sons on a trip to the Caribbean Sea alone.

In the hot summer, the beaches there were much more comfortable than Hawaii.

Time passed quickly, and two days later, the Pelicans' championship parade officially kicked off in New Orleans.

Compared to last year, this year's parade mode was much more ordinary.

There were no yachts, no amphibious parades, but like most parades, it was a bus parade through the city.

Last year was their first championship, which required careful preparation, but this year was their second, so it would naturally be rougher.

However, the form of a parade doesn't matter; what matters is the process.

This was a day for players and fans to celebrate.

And even with a city-wide parade, there were still highlights.

There were two brightest spots among them.

One was that Tang Tian and Davis were in a separate bus this year, with the championship trophy and the FMVP trophy on their bus.

And besides that, there was another guest on this bus.

Tang Tian's African lion!

The African lion was now more than four years old, which was well past adulthood for lions.

Its strong body looked mighty and domineering.

However, because it had been raised by Tang Tian since it was a cub, and because of its gentle temperament, it looked more like a big cat.

However, walking a lion in a parade, Tang Tian's behavior was enough to make this seemingly ordinary championship parade go down in history.

Fans took pictures of Tang Tian and the African lion posing on the bus.

Even at the transfer station, Tang Tian brought the African lion off the bus, eliciting screams from the fans.

Of course, they couldn't touch it, and Tang Tian had it on a leash and muzzle.

As a Chinese, he was very conscious of this.

The parade's bus convoy traveled from the upper reaches of the Mississippi River to the lower reaches, accompanied by the fans' revelry, and finally arrived outside the New Orleans Arena.

This year's championship speech was not held indoors like last year, but was arranged outdoors.

This was because the weather forecast had predicted that the temperature wouldn't be too high today, and the outdoor air always made people feel more cheerful.

The host of the championship speech was still Stevens.

This was unchanged from last year.

What had changed was that an unexpected uninvited guest had arrived.

Michael Jordan.

His Airness had come to the Pelicans' championship parade to show his support.

Jordan's current identity was the Hornets' owner, and his appearance in such a setting could be said to be very incredible.

But this was consistent with his recent behavior.

Ever since his last meeting with Tang Tian, he had been trying his best to win Tang Tian over on various occasions.

Now that Tang Tian had helped the Pelicans defend their title as he had predicted, his motivation was naturally even stronger.

It could even be foreseen that after the championship parade, Jordan, who was usually quite stingy, might even generously invite Tang Tian to dinner.

Stevens' championship speech was still very inspiring. He was truly well-rounded.

If Tang Tian was a hexagonal warrior among players, then he was a hexagonal warrior among coaches.

When he said at the end of his speech that he would help New Orleans achieve three or even more consecutive championships, the cheers from the crowd resounded through the sky.

This was a kind of confidence, but also a kind of foundation.

And Stevens specially threw this topic to Tang Tian to help him build momentum.

Tang Tian took the microphone from a staff member and smiled in response after the cheers from the fans subsided.

"Yes, we will bring three, four, or even more championships to this city. I will stay in New Orleans and do my best to bring as much glory as possible to this city."

Tang Tian was also quite豪迈 (háo mài; bold and generous).

His career was still on the rise, and he had already taken root in New Orleans, so what he said made perfect sense.

However, just as he said this, Jordan in the audience lost his smile.

Everything he had done was to be able to recruit Tang Tian in the future, but Tang Tian was now saying that he would stay in New Orleans forever?