Por TIM REYNOLDS

Para LeBron James, la victoria importó más que la racha.

La racha récord de James en la NBA de 1.297 partidos consecutivos de temporada regular con al menos 10 puntos terminó el jueves por la noche en Toronto, y fue él quien tomó la decisión de ponerle fin. En lugar de intentar anotar para ganar el juego —y extender su racha—, asistió a Rui Hachimura para el último tiro.

Hachimura acertó un triple en el último segundo, James consiguió la asistencia ganadora, y los Lakers de Los Ángeles vencieron 123-120 a los Raptors. James terminó con ocho puntos y no tuvo remordimientos.

“Ninguno”, afirmó James. “Ganamos”.

La racha de James comenzó el 6 de enero de 2007 y duró casi dos décadas. Fue, con mucho, la racha más larga de este tipo en la historia de la NBA: Michael Jordan acumuló 866 partidos consecutivos anotando en doble dígito, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fue el tercero mejor con 787 partidos, y Karl Malone tuvo la cuarta racha más larga con 575.

James era plenamente consciente de que si Hachimura anotaba, la racha terminaría. Pero Hachimura, en ese momento, le dio a los Lakers la mejor oportunidad de ganar, pensó James. Y James no dudó en lanzar el pase.

“Simplemente jugando el juego de la manera correcta. Siempre haces la jugada correcta”, expresó James. “Ese ha sido mi modus operandi. Así me enseñaron el juego. Lo he hecho durante toda mi carrera”.

James ingresó al partido por última vez con 5:23 restantes, con el resultado y la racha en juego.

Tenía seis puntos con tres de 15 en tiros en ese momento. Anotó con 1:46 restantes para empatar el juego y falló un tiro de 14 pies con 1:01 restante que lo habría llevado a los dos dígitos.

No tomó otro tiro, pero pudo haberlo hecho. El escolta Austin Reaves le dio el balón a James con unos segundos restantes, pero James estaba feliz de conseguir la asistencia.

“LeBron es muy consciente de cuántos puntos tiene en ese momento”, comentó el entrenador de los Lakers, JJ Redick. “Lo hizo como lo ha hecho tantas veces… Los dioses del baloncesto, si lo haces de la manera correcta, tienden a recompensarte”.

La última vez que James fue mantenido por debajo de 10 puntos en la temporada regular fue el 5 de enero de 2007, cuando tuvo ocho puntos para Cleveland en una victoria 95-86 sobre Milwaukee. Tuvo 19 la noche siguiente contra New Jersey, y la racha continuó desde entonces.

“Le quitas el sombrero a un tipo que solo se preocupa por ganar y hacer la jugada correcta”, señaló Reaves. “Eso es lo que ha hecho durante toda su carrera”.

James fue mantenido por debajo de 10 puntos dos veces en los playoffs durante la racha de temporada regular, una vez en 2011 y nuevamente en 2014. Jordan todavía tiene la racha más larga, contando los playoffs, de juegos anotando en doble dígito con 1.045.

Incluyendo los playoffs, la racha de James terminó en 865 juegos consecutivos de 10 puntos.

Tomaría mucho, mucho tiempo para que alguien alcance el total de temporada regular de James. Kevin Durant de Houston ahora tiene la racha activa más larga con 267 juegos, lo que significa que tendría que jugar hasta al menos los 49 años o más para romper el récord. La siguiente racha más larga es de Shai Gilgeous-Alexander de Oklahoma City, quien tiene 170 partidos consecutivos de doble dígito.

Gilgeous-Alexander podría alcanzar a James, es decir, si mantiene la racha durante otros 14 años, cuando tendrá 41.

“Es un jugador tan desinteresado”, dijo Jake LaRavia, el delantero de los Lakers sobre James. “Simplemente está jugando al baloncesto. Tuvo la oportunidad, pero debido al jugador que es y simplemente por quién es como persona, hizo la jugada desinteresada, se la pasó a Rui y ganamos el juego”.

Que James alcanzara los dos dígitos solía ser una idea secundaria mucho antes del comienzo de los cuartos cuartos. Durante la racha, había alcanzado la marca de 10 puntos en tres cuartos 1.266 veces antes del jueves.

Pero dos de esos juegos de un solo dígito en tres cuartos habían ocurrido en la última semana más o menos.

Por su propia descripción, aún no está en ritmo, después de perderse toda la pretemporada y el inicio de la campaña por una lesión. Se notó cuando falló sus primeros seis tiros el jueves, con tres de ellos ni siquiera cerca.

Y recuerda todas las veces que ha sido criticado por pasar el balón en momentos importantes. Siempre dijo que la jugada correcta es la jugada correcta, y esas palabras volvieron a sonar verdaderas el jueves.

“Recuerdo todo lo que se ha dicho negativamente sobre mí y mi juego a lo largo de mi carrera”, dijo James. “Y ese aspecto ha sido una de las cosas más tontas que he escuchado en cuanto a hacer el pase correcto, hacer la jugada correcta. Estamos en el negocio de ganar juegos de baloncesto y toda mi vida he jugado el juego de esa manera. He enseñado el juego de esa manera. He ganado en cada nivel en el que he jugado jugando el juego de esa manera”.

___

Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/racha-de-1-297-partidos-de-lebron-james-con-doble-dgito-termina-pero-aporta-asistencia-ganadora/ 

After a trying year, Stevenson senior guard Rocco Pagliocca thinks he has finally turned the corner.

Pagliocca, whose father, Jeff, is the general manager of the Chicago Sky, was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in November 2024 and was sidelined for 20 days after surgery.

But that was only the beginning. Over the summer, there were times when Pagliocca’s heart rate reached 165 beats per minute while he was just sitting up in bed. In August, he was diagnosed with dysautonomia, a disorder of the nervous system that disrupts body processes.

“They were not my best few months,” Pagliocca said. “There were many times in my mind when I was scared that I would never feel like myself again — not even just basketball-wise, but things like going to school and going through normal activities. It’s pretty cool to look back and know that I’m in a much better place.”

Pagliocca returned for Stevenson’s season opener last week and scored 21 points in the win. One day later, he put up 24 points and eight rebounds in another win. For those two games alone, he was named to the Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic’s all-tournament team.

“That was pretty special to me and a lot of people I’m close to,” he said. “Being able to step onto a basketball court, it’s what I love.”

Pagliocca had a productive junior season after his surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Patriots won a share of the North Suburban Conference title, and he was named to the all-conference team.

But Pagliocca knew something still wasn’t right. He said he experienced brain fog, severe fatigue and vision impairment, in addition to a heightened heart rate.

“There were times last season where I couldn’t even get out of bed,” he said. “I kept telling myself that I was OK, and I had to convince myself that I wasn’t making things up and I wasn’t crazy.”

Pagliocca didn’t compete on the AAU circuit in the spring but decided to play for the Patriots in June. There were flashes of him at his best, like when he scored 38 points in a game. But it became commonplace for him to go to the bench.

As symptoms worsened, Pagliocca made multiple trips to emergency rooms, and it became clear that he couldn’t play in July, an important scouting period.

“I couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. “Besides the physical symptoms, it was a big struggle mentally.”

Those close to Pagliocca knew he needed to recalibrate.

“Rocco’s best weapon may be his toughness, but it got to a point where it wasn’t intelligent to keep playing,” Jeff Pagliocca said. “It wasn’t about him coming back and playing basketball but living a regular life as an 18-year-old.”

Stevenson’s Rocco Pagliocca, center, runs with teammates during a practice on campus in Lincolnshire on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Talia Sprague / News-Sun)

After visits with numerous doctors, Rocco Pagliocca was diagnosed with dysautonomia, for which there is neither a cure nor a universally recognized treatment. He went to physical therapy twice a day and had strict limits on physical exertion.

That regimen became Pagliocca’s new daily grind. It didn’t include attending school. He missed more than two months of classes.

“I know he missed basketball dearly and being around his teammates,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said. “On a personal level, though, it didn’t seem like it was a fun way to live.”

In late October, Pagliocca reinserted himself back into normal activities. Better coping with his symptoms, he felt good enough to go to classes.

“There were really small steps, but it was definitely progress,” he said. “There were still no guarantees since I had been told this would be with me the rest of my life.”

As Pagliocca began to feel better, he thought about basketball, even though he had been told by doctors on multiple occasions that the odds of him playing at any point this season were slim to none. But he received medical clearance, and his family felt comfortable that he wouldn’t be in harm’s way if he played.

Pagliocca shrugged off the fact that he hadn’t touched a basketball since June.

“This has given me a totally different level of motivation,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to destroy anyone I play against.”

Stevenson’s Rocco Pagliocca shoots a free throw during a North Suburban Conference game against Warren in Gurnee on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (Mark Ukena / News-Sun)

Pagliocca made that clear in the first two games of the season. But he landed on someone’s ankle after making a 3-pointer late in the second game, prompting yet another ER visit for X-rays, which were negative.

Pagliocca missed the Patriots’ third game, a loss to Palatine, but is ready for their North Suburban Conference opener against Lake Zurich on Friday. He’s looking forward to a special senior season, during which he could become the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 career points.

“I would need both of my ankles removed at this point to keep me from playing,” he said.

Even more important, Pagliocca is equipped with valuable life lessons.

“Even at my lowest, I knew in the back of my mind that it was temporary,” he said. “At some point, I knew I would come out of this even a better player than I was and a more complete person.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/basketball-stevenson-rocco-pagliocca-dysautonomia/ 

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration set forth a new national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

The document released Friday by the White House is sure to roil long-standing U.S. allies in Europe for its scathing critiques of their migration and free speech policies, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and raising doubts about their long-term reliability as American partners.

It reinforces, in sometimes chilly and bellicose terms, Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which favors nonintervention overseas, questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes U.S. interests above all.

The U.S. strategy “is motivated above all by what works for America — or, in two words, ‘America First,’” the document said.

This is the first national security strategy, a document the administration is required by law to release, since the Republican president’s return to office in January. It is a stark break from the course set by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, which sought to reinvigorate alliances after many were rattled in Trump’s first term and to check a more assertive Russia.

The United States is seeking to broker an end Russia’s nearly 4-year war in Ukraine, a goal that the national security strategy says is in America’s vital interests. But the document makes clear the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending that war is a core U.S. interest in order to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”

The document also is critical of America’s European allies. They have found themselves sometimes at odds this year with Trump’s shifting approaches to the Russia-Ukraine war, and are facing domestic economic challenges as well an existential crisis, according to the U.S.

Economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure,” the strategy document said.

The U.S. suggests that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birthrates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”

“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the document said. “Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence.”

Despite Trump’s “America First” maxim, his administration has carried out a series of military strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean while weighing possible military action in Venezuela to pressure President Nicolás Maduro.

The moves are part of what the national security strategy lays out as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine.” The 1823 Monroe Doctrine, formulated by President James Monroe, was originally aimed at opposing any European meddling in the Western Hemisphere and was used to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.

Trump’s strategy document says the U.S. is reimagining its military footprint in the region even after building up the largest military presence there in generations.

That means, for instance, “targeted deployments to secure the border and defeat cartels, including where necessary the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades,” it says.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/trumps-security-strategy/ 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Southern Command announced that it had conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, following a pause of almost three weeks.

It is the 22nd strike the U.S. military has carried out against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration claimed were trafficking drugs.

There were four casualties in Thursday’s strike, according to the social media post, bringing the death toll of the campaign to at least 87 people.

In a video that accompanied the announcement, a small boat can be seen moving across the water before it is suddenly consumed by a large explosion. The video then zooms out to show the boat covered in flames and billowing smoke.

The strike was conducted the same day Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers began an investigation into the very first strike carried out by the military on Sept. 2. The sessions came after a report that Bradley ordered a follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demands.

Bradley told lawmakers there was no “kill them all” order from Hegseth, but a stark video of the entire series of attacks left some lawmakers with serious questions.

Legal experts have said killing survivors of a strike at sea could be a violation of the laws of military warfare.

Bradley spoke to lawmakers alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, in a classified session. His testimony provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth’s leadership comes under scrutiny, but it did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump’s extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug smugglers.

Lawmakers offered differing accounts of what they saw on the video.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said he saw the survivors “trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for United States back over so they could stay in the fight.”

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”

“You have two individuals in clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel,” he said, adding they “were killed by the United States.”

Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/us-military-strike-drug-boat/ 

When President Donald Trump suspended the refugee program on day one of his current administration, thousands of people around the world who’d been so close to a new life in America found themselves abandoned.

As part of Trump’s crackdown on legal and illegal migration, the Republican president has upended the decades-old refugee program that has served as a beacon for those fleeing war and persecution. In October, he resumed the program but set a historic low of refugee admissions at 7,500 — mostly white South Africans.

New restrictions were announced after an Afghan national became the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members last week. The Trump administration also plans a review of refugees let in during the Democratic Biden administration. Trump’s administration has cited economic and national security concerns for its policy changes.

About 600,000 people were being processed to come to the U.S. as refugees when the program was halted, according to the administration. Aside from dozens of white South Africans let in this year, only about 100 others have been admitted as a result of a lawsuit by advocates seeking to restore the refugee program, said Mevlüde Akay Alp, a lawyer arguing the case.

The Associated Press spoke to three families whose lives have been thrown into disarray because of the changing policies.

A family separated by tightened restrictions

The Dawoods fled civil war in Syria and settled in northern Iraq. They hoped to find a new home that could provide better medical care for a daughter who had fallen from the fourth floor of the family’s apartment building.

After they were accepted as refugees to the U.S., son Ibrahim and his sister Ava relocated to Connecticut in November 2024. His parents and one of his brothers were scheduled to fly in January.

But just two days before they were to board their flight, mother Hayat Fatah fainted at a medical check and her departure was postponed. Mohammed, another sibling, didn’t want to leave his parents behind.

Nearly a year later, he and his parents are still waiting.

In America, Ibrahim wakes up early to tutor people online before going to his job as a math teacher at a private school, and then he takes care of his sister when he gets home. He said his mother often cries when they talk because she wishes she were in America to help care for her daughter.

A Chinese pastor wonders when his turn will come

Chinese Christian Lu Taizhi fled to Thailand more than a decade ago, fearing persecution for his beliefs. He’s lived in legal limbo since, waiting to be resettled in the United States.

Lu said he has long admired the U.S. for what he calls its Christian character — a place where he feels he and his family “can seek freedom.”

Lu was born into a family branded as “hostile elements” by the Chinese Communist Party for its land ownership and ties to a competing political party. A teacher and poet, Lu grew interested in history banned by the Chinese state, penning tributes to the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing.

In 2004, Lu was arrested after police found poems and essays he secretly published criticizing Chinese politics and the education system. After his release, Lu became a Christian and began preaching, drawing scrutiny from local authorities.

With Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rise to power, controls tightened. When Beijing arrested hundreds of rights lawyers in 2015, Lu took his family and fled, settling in Thailand, where they applied for refugee status with the United Nations.

Eight years later, the U.N. notified Lu the U.S. had accepted his application. But after several delays, his most recent flight was canceled shortly after Trump’s inauguration. His application has been put on hold indefinitely.

‘I don’t want to lose her’

Louis arrived in the United States as a refugee in September 2024. He left his wife and two children in East Africa, hoping they could soon be reunited in the U.S.

But that dream faded a few months later with Trump’s return to the presidency.

Louis, who insisted on being identified only by his first name out of concern that speaking publicly could complicate his case, was told in January that a request he had made to bring his family to the U.S. had been frozen due to changes in refugee policies.

Now, the family members live thousands of miles apart without knowing when they will be reunited. His wife, Apolina, and the children, 2 and 3 years old, are in a refugee camp in Uganda. Louis is in Kentucky.

“I don’t want to lose her, and she does not want to lose me,” said Louis, who resettled in Kentucky with the help of the International Rescue Committee.

Louis and Apolina’s families applied for refugee status after fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Louis’ application, initiated by his parents, was approved, Apolina’s, made separately by her parents, was not.

Apolina thought that, as the wife of a refugee, it would take her no more than one year to reunite with her husband, who now works in an appliance factory and has already applied for permanent residency.

The separation hasn’t been easy for her and the children, who live in a tent in the refugee camp.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/refugees-trump/ 

Court Eases Sentence For Afghan Who ‘Showed Restraint’ After ‘Only’ Stabbing Teacher Six Times

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/05/2025 – 09:25

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/court-eases-sentence-afghan-who-showed-restraint-after-only-stabbing-teacher-six-times 

At least 10 people were taken to area hospitals after a fire broke out Friday at an apartment building in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, officials reported.

All of the injured were able to vacate the fire before firefighters arrived to the scene. The building is located in the 1500 block of North Karlov Avenue.

Check back for more information as details emerge.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/fire-humboldt-park-apartment-building/ 

The following items were taken from Naperville police reports and press releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt:

A 23-year-old man from Bellwood was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, improper lighting, transportation or possession of open alcohol by a driver, unlawful possession of cannabis by a driver and improper window tinting at 1:56 a.m. Nov. 27 in the 1100 block of East Ogden Avenue
A 35-year-old man from Oswego was arrested on charges of failure to signal when changing lanes, improper lane usage, driving with expired license plates, unlawful possession of cannabis by a driver and possession of a controlled substance at 2:52 p.m. Nov 27 at West Ogden Avenue and Aurora Avenue.
A 20-year-old man from DeKalb was arrested on a warrant and on a charge of obstructing identification at 12:27 a.m. Nov. 28 in the 900 block of East Chicago Avenue.
A 31-year-old man from Naperville was arrested on charges of criminal trespass to a building and battery at 3:54 a.m. Nov. 28 in the 100 block of 4th Avenue.
A 40-year-old man from Elmhurst was arrested on charges of criminal trespass to a building and battery at 3:55 a.m. Nov. 28 in the 100 block of 4th Avenue.
A 26-year-old man from Bolingbrook was arrested on a charge of retail theft exceeding $300 at 2:08 p.m. Nov. 28 in the 1900 block of West Jefferson Avenue.
A 35-year-old man from Chicago was arrested on charges of felon possession or use of weapon/firearm/ammunition and armed habitual criminal at 11:26 p.m. Nov. 28 in the 1500 block of Aurora Avenue.
A 33-year-old man from Aurora was arrested on a warrant at 1:42 a.m. Nov. 29 at Aurora Avenue and South Route 59.
A 26-year old man from Montgomery was arrested on charges of disobeying a traffic control device, improper lighting, improper lane usage, driving under the influence of alcohol and unlawful possession or transportation of alcohol by a driver at 2:22 a.m. Nov. 29 at North Washington Street and North Avenue.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/naperville-police-arrests-blotter-november-6/ 

5x Leverage Is Too Much Says The SEC

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/05/2025 – 09:05

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/5x-leverage-too-much-says-sec