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How the New Orleans Pelicans Became My Identity After Hurricane Katrina

By Charles LaRocca

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August 29, 2015 as many know will mark 10 years since Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans; thousands of people were forced to flee their homes and relocate in cities all across the country. Every New Orleanian has a Katrina story and all of them are unique, but all of them are also so very alike.

They are alike in a sense of how all stories share the same love for New Orleans, my story is currently being told from Las Vegas Nevada. I have lived in Las Vegas for 10 years of my short life, I evacuated here when I was 10. Constantly I am being told that Las Vegas is my home, I grew up here but that could not be further from the truth.

In all actuality, my love for New Orleans grew stronger  since I have lived out here and a big part of that was the New Orleans Pelicans and the identity they provided. Every time I walk outside of my house I want everyone to know that I am from New Orleans. Whenever I wear my New Orleans basketball apparel it is reminder to myself that I am not home nor will this ever be home.

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Living on the West Coast you see very few basketball fans that are not California teams so when you wear a team like the Pelicans they take notice and they ask questions. I love when they do because it is a chance for me to showcase New Orleans and share the beauty I see with others. An even better scenario is when the rarely see someone sporting New Orleans gear; we make a concerted effort to recognize one another, a sign of mutual respect and an understanding of where I came from.

When I initially moved here following Hurricane Katrina I remember being so insulted by a comment a kid made to me that it is what drives my fanhood till this day. Being the new kid from Katrina, everyone was so interested in talking to me asking many questions so of course it got to who my favorite basketball team was and of course I said the Hornets. His response was who? I have never heard of them, are they a high school team? I could not believe it. I was furious.

How could he have the audacity to disrespect the NBA team I love so much, or even disrespect the city that represented them. It was that moment when I decided that I will be responsbile for making sure that everyone knows my team, the city they represent, and what they mean to me. The New Orleans franchise gave me an ability to showcase my New Orleans roots with pride and an ability to standout.

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    • Even when Chris Paul was at the height of his popularity and his jersey was being floated around, I made it a priority to get a Peja or David West jersey just so I could still be a rebel, in my mind at least. It was my own weird way of saying I am from New Orleans, I did not choose to be here nor do I want to.

    I still get bitter when I see someone wear a Pelicans hat and I compliment them only to hear the response, “oh I am not a fan I just like the colors”. To me those colors represent an entire city and when I wear a jersey or a hat it is not because of how I feel about a certain player or how cool the logo is. This stems for my own personal resent towards the fact that I cannot move back, that my livelihood was taken from me, my childhood was literally washed away in front of my eyes.

    The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the few links to it that I can embrace and that is what New Orleans Pelicans mean to me. Now, am I overreacting about what a basketball team really means to a city? Probably. Am I the face of New Orleans on the West Coast? Certainly not.

    Still, leaving New Orleans at 10 years old I needed a connection to home and New Orleans basketball continues to provide that, so in a totally weird strange way feel I am not just defending a basketball team but I am defending my home.

    Next: Nathan's NBA Lesson Learned During Katrina

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