LINCOLN, Neb. — The Keaton Wagler show didn’t arrive until the second half Sunday at No. 5 Nebraska.

Eight days earlier, the Illinois freshman drew national attention when he scored 46 points to help the Illini upset then-No. 4 Purdue. But he had just five points in the first half Sunday in front of 15,513 fans, most dressed in white, at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Wagler didn’t fret as the Illini went into halftime trailing by six.

“I knew I had to step it up. But I wasn’t worried,” Wagler said. “I’ve had low-scoring first halves before, and I’ve come out and scored a lot in the second half. I just kept doing what I always do and let the game come to me.”

No. 9 Illinois rode the performances of 7-foot Croatian twins Tomislav Ivišić and Zvonimir Ivišić in the first half, and Wagler came through in the second half with 23 of his 28 points to help Illinois pull off a 78-69 win. Wagler shot 7-for-15 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and five assists.

“Then Keaton did Keaton things,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.

Keaton Wagler of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives against Sam Hoiberg of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

It was the second win over a Top 5 team for the Illini in nine days, and it extended their winning streak to 11 games. Illinois had never beaten two Top 5 teams in consecutive road games before. The Illini also beat Washington at home on Wednesday.

Illinois (19-3, 10-1) moved into a tie for first place in the crowded Big Ten with No. 2 Michigan (20-1, 10-1). Nebraska (20-2, 9-2), which lost to Michigan on Tuesday, dropped into a tie for second place with No. 7 Michigan State (19-3, 9-2). Illinois plays at Michigan State on Feb. 7 and against Michigan at home on Feb. 27.

Underwood said he thought his team showed toughness and smarts in pulling off wins at Purdue’s Mackey Arena and in front of a Nebraska crowd fired up about a men’s basketball resurgence in Lincoln. And the Illini did it with veteran leader Kylan Boswell on the bench with a fractured right hand.

“I think we showed that we are a really good team, that we are really calm in tough moments,” Tomislav Ivišić said of Illinois’ last nine days. “Really smart team, makes good decisions. I just feel like we are a team that knows what to do and knows how to get things done in certain moments.”

Tomislav Ivišić had 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Jake Davis added 13 points.

With Wagler getting off to a slow scoring start, Illinois leaned on the Ivišić brothers to carry them through much of the first half in a big lineup. Underwood said the Illini are able to utilize their big lineups because of the ability of 6-foot-9 freshman forward David Mirković to handle the ball.

The brothers combined for 10 straight points midway through the half, including two Zvonimir alley-oop dunks and a Tomislav 3-pointer on a feed from his brother.

How Illinois’ ‘Balkan Five’ came together — and are giving the No. 17 Illini a new sound

“Nebraska is a difficult team to play against, but we figured we had some matchup advantages we can use,” Tomislav Ivišić said. “Of course, everybody can shoot, all five players, and we just tried to manipulate the floor to be guarded by someone who we wanted in that moment.”

Illinois had lost to Nebraska 83-80 in Champaign on Dec. 13, but Underwood said he thought the Illini have shown growth on defense since that loss and displayed connectivity Sunday.

The Illini mixed in zone defense in the first half to try to hinder the Cornhuskers’ ball movement, and Underwood was pleased with how they tried to take away layups, with the Ivišić twins helping that cause.

“Their length in the paint bothered us,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “It took away some of our cutting. I thought early we curled, we got in there, we made some plays, we sprayed it out and had some really good looks. And we got in a really good rhythm late in the half. And second half, we couldn’t get those same looks.”

Nebraska didn’t shoot particularly well early in the first half, starting 4-for-15. But Braden Frager — back after missing two games with an ankle injury — kept the Huskers in it with his 3-point shooting.

Then Nebraska had a stretch of making 7 of 9 shots — five of them 3-pointers — to take a 39-33 lead into halftime. They were 11-for-20 from 3-point range in the half, and Frager and Pryce Sandfort had four apiece.

But Nebraska’s shooting cooled off in the second half, as they went 4-for-15 from 3-point range. Frager finished with 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and Sandfort had 14 points.

Freshman Keaton Wagler’s record 46-point game has No. 11 Illinois thinking big after upset of No. 4 Purdue

“It was definitely our communication and finding players in transition,” Wagler said. “They had a lot of transition points on us in the first game. That was our big emphasis, finding shooters in transition, and knowing our personnel, knowing who’s going to want to shoot the ball a lot, who’s going to want to drive and stuff like that.”

Rienk Mast, Nebraska’s 6-10 forward, missed the Huskers’ 75-72 loss to Michigan with an illness that put him in the emergency room the following day due to dehydration. Hoiberg said he thought Mast, who had five points, played “like he was in the ER until 3 in the morning.”

Meanwhile, Wagler helped Illinois pull away, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half but also getting physical on drives to the basket. He drew 12 fouls, and all 10 of his points from free throws came in the second half.

Hoiberg said Wagler has been playing like a first-team All-American. Illinois said he is the first NCAA Division I player over the last 20 seasons with multiple 25-plus-point games in road wins over Top 5 teams.

But he also received some help on a key 10-0 Illinois run in the second half. Davis hit a 3 at the shot clock buzzer after Tomislav Ivišić sent a volleyball-like pass his way, and Mirković followed with a drive.

Wagler then made two free throws and hit a 3-pointer while falling backward to give Illinois a 63-52 lead.

Nebraska cut Illinois’ lead to 76-69 with 42.4 seconds left on Mast’s layup, but Andrej Stojaković made a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play to help seal it.

“It gives us a lot of confidence being able to come on the road and knowing we can win these games,” Wagler said. “Just staying poised, staying together.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/illinois-beats-nebraska-basketball-top-5-win/ 

Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — El Atlético de Madrid dice que ha llegado a un acuerdo con Atalanta, equipo de la Serie A, para fichar al delantero nigeriano Ademola Lookman.

El club español informó que Lookman ya está en Madrid para firmar su contrato el domingo.

“El acuerdo está sujeto a que pase su reconocimiento médico y a que se acuerde y formalice su contrato”, expresó el Atlético, sin dar más detalles.

Lookman se someterá a su reconocimiento médico el lunes.

El jugador de 28 años jugó para Fulham y Leicester antes de unirse al Atalanta en 2022. También jugó previamente para Leipzig y Everton.

Lookman anotó tres goles para Nigeria en la Copa Africana de Naciones.

El Atlético es tercero en La Liga, a nueve puntos del segundo lugar, el Real Madrid, y a diez puntos del líder, Barcelona, después de 22 partidos. Se enfrentará al Club Brujas en los playoffs de la Liga de Campeones más tarde este mes.

___

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/atltico-de-madrid-anuncia-acuerdo-con-atalanta-por-el-delantero-nigeriano-ademola-lookman/ 

WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official played down the possibility of additional criminal charges arising from the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying Sunday that the existence of “horrible photographs” and troubling email correspondence does not “allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

Department officials said over the summer that a review of Epstein-related records did not establish a basis for new criminal investigations, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that position remains unchanged even as a massive document dump since Friday has focused fresh attention on Epstein’s links to powerful individuals around the world and revived questions about what, if any, knowledge the wealthy financier’s associates had about his crimes.

“There’s a lot of correspondence. There’s a lot of emails. There’s a lot of photographs. There’s a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But that doesn’t allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

He said victims of Epstein’s sex abuse “want to be made whole,” but that “doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said Friday that it would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents and more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under a law intended to reveal most of the material it collected during long-running investigations into Epstein.

The fallout from the release of the files has been swift.

In the United Kingdom, Lord Peter Mandelson announced his resignation from the governing Labour Party on Sunday following further revelations about his relationship with Epstein. He said he was stepping aside to avoid causing “further embarrassment,” even as he denied allegations he had received payments from Epstein two decades ago.

A top official in Slovakia, meanwhile, left his position after photos and emails revealed he had met with Epstein in the years after Epstein was released from jail. And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that longtime Epstein friend Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, should tell U.S. investigators whatever he knows about Epstein’s activities.

The revelations continue

The files posted to the department’s website included documents involving Epstein’s friendship with Mountbatten-Windsor, along with Epstein’s email correspondence with onetime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and other prominent contacts with people in political, business and philanthropic circles, such as billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

The Epstein saga has long fueled public fascination in part because of his past friendships with Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Both men have said they had no knowledge Epstein was abusing underage girls.

Among the records was a spreadsheet created last August that summarized calls made to the FBI’s National Threat Operation Center or to a hotline set up by prosecutors from people claiming to have some knowledge of wrongdoing by Trump. That document included a range of uncorroborated stories involving different celebrities, and somewhat fantastical scenarios, occasionally with notations indicating what follow-up, if any, was done by agents.

Blanche said Sunday that there were a “ton of people” named in the files besides Trump and that the FBI had fielded “hundreds of calls” about prominent individuals where the allegations were “quickly determined to not be credible.”

Some of Epstein’s personal email correspondence contained candid discussions with others about his penchant for paying women for sex, even after he served jail time for soliciting an underage prostitute. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

In one 2013 email, a person whose name was blacked out wrote to Epstein about his choice “to surround yourself with these young women in a capacity that bleeds — perhaps, somewhat arbitrarily — from the professional into the personal and back.”

“Though these women are young, they are not too young to know that they are making a very particular choice in taking on this role with you,” the person wrote. “Especially in the aftermath of your trial which, after all, was public and could be — indeed was — interpreted as a powerful man taking advantage of powerless young women, instead of the other way around.”

In a 2009 email, not long after Epstein had finished serving jail time for his Florida sex crime, another woman, whose name was redacted, excoriated him for breaking a promise that they would spend time alone together and try to conceive a baby.

“I find myself having to question every agreement we have made (no prostitutes staying in the house, in our bed, movies, naps, two weeks Alone, baby…),” She wrote. “Your last minute suggestion to spend THIS weekend with prostitutes is just too much for me to handle. I can’t live like this anymore.”

‘This review is over’

Blanche said in a separate appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that though there are a “small number of documents” the Justice Department was waiting for a judge’s approval before it can release, when it comes to the department’s own scouring of documents, “this review is over.”

“We reviewed over six million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, tens of thousands of images,” Blanche said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believed the Justice Department was complying with the law requiring disclosure of the files.

But Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of the law, said he did not believe the department had fully complied. He said survivors were upset some of their names had inadvertently come out without redactions.

Blanche said each time the department has learned a victim’s name was not properly redacted, it has moved quickly to fix the problem and that those mistakes account for a tiny fraction of the overall materials.

The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from Versant, CBS and NBC. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the files and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/justice-department-official-epstein-files-revelations/ 

WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official played down the possibility of additional criminal charges arising from the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying Sunday that the existence of “horrible photographs” and troubling email correspondence does not “allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

Department officials said over the summer that a review of Epstein-related records did not establish a basis for new criminal investigations, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that position remains unchanged even as a massive document dump since Friday has focused fresh attention on Epstein’s links to powerful individuals around the world and revived questions about what, if any, knowledge the wealthy financier’s associates had about his crimes.

“There’s a lot of correspondence. There’s a lot of emails. There’s a lot of photographs. There’s a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But that doesn’t allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

He said victims of Epstein’s sex abuse “want to be made whole,” but that “doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said Friday that it would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents and more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under a law intended to reveal most of the material it collected during long-running investigations into Epstein.

The fallout from the release of the files has been swift.

In the United Kingdom, Lord Peter Mandelson announced his resignation from the governing Labour Party on Sunday following further revelations about his relationship with Epstein. He said he was stepping aside to avoid causing “further embarrassment,” even as he denied allegations he had received payments from Epstein two decades ago.

A top official in Slovakia, meanwhile, left his position after photos and emails revealed he had met with Epstein in the years after Epstein was released from jail. And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that longtime Epstein friend Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, should tell U.S. investigators whatever he knows about Epstein’s activities.

The revelations continue

The files posted to the department’s website included documents involving Epstein’s friendship with Mountbatten-Windsor, along with Epstein’s email correspondence with onetime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and other prominent contacts with people in political, business and philanthropic circles, such as billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

The Epstein saga has long fueled public fascination in part because of his past friendships with Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Both men have said they had no knowledge Epstein was abusing underage girls.

Among the records was a spreadsheet created last August that summarized calls made to the FBI’s National Threat Operation Center or to a hotline set up by prosecutors from people claiming to have some knowledge of wrongdoing by Trump. That document included a range of uncorroborated stories involving different celebrities, and somewhat fantastical scenarios, occasionally with notations indicating what follow-up, if any, was done by agents.

Blanche said Sunday that there were a “ton of people” named in the files besides Trump and that the FBI had fielded “hundreds of calls” about prominent individuals where the allegations were “quickly determined to not be credible.”

Some of Epstein’s personal email correspondence contained candid discussions with others about his penchant for paying women for sex, even after he served jail time for soliciting an underage prostitute. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

In one 2013 email, a person whose name was blacked out wrote to Epstein about his choice “to surround yourself with these young women in a capacity that bleeds — perhaps, somewhat arbitrarily — from the professional into the personal and back.”

“Though these women are young, they are not too young to know that they are making a very particular choice in taking on this role with you,” the person wrote. “Especially in the aftermath of your trial which, after all, was public and could be — indeed was — interpreted as a powerful man taking advantage of powerless young women, instead of the other way around.”

In a 2009 email, not long after Epstein had finished serving jail time for his Florida sex crime, another woman, whose name was redacted, excoriated him for breaking a promise that they would spend time alone together and try to conceive a baby.

“I find myself having to question every agreement we have made (no prostitutes staying in the house, in our bed, movies, naps, two weeks Alone, baby…),” She wrote. “Your last minute suggestion to spend THIS weekend with prostitutes is just too much for me to handle. I can’t live like this anymore.”

‘This review is over’

Blanche said in a separate appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that though there are a “small number of documents” the Justice Department was waiting for a judge’s approval before it can release, when it comes to the department’s own scouring of documents, “this review is over.”

“We reviewed over six million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, tens of thousands of images,” Blanche said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believed the Justice Department was complying with the law requiring disclosure of the files.

But Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of the law, said he did not believe the department had fully complied. He said survivors were upset some of their names had inadvertently come out without redactions.

Blanche said each time the department has learned a victim’s name was not properly redacted, it has moved quickly to fix the problem and that those mistakes account for a tiny fraction of the overall materials.

The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from Versant, CBS and NBC. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the files and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/justice-department-official-epstein-files-revelations/ 

WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official played down the possibility of additional criminal charges arising from the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying Sunday that the existence of “horrible photographs” and troubling email correspondence does not “allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

Department officials said over the summer that a review of Epstein-related records did not establish a basis for new criminal investigations, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that position remains unchanged even as a massive document dump since Friday has focused fresh attention on Epstein’s links to powerful individuals around the world and revived questions about what, if any, knowledge the wealthy financier’s associates had about his crimes.

“There’s a lot of correspondence. There’s a lot of emails. There’s a lot of photographs. There’s a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But that doesn’t allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

He said victims of Epstein’s sex abuse “want to be made whole,” but that “doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said Friday that it would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents and more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under a law intended to reveal most of the material it collected during long-running investigations into Epstein.

The fallout from the release of the files has been swift.

In the United Kingdom, Lord Peter Mandelson announced his resignation from the governing Labour Party on Sunday following further revelations about his relationship with Epstein. He said he was stepping aside to avoid causing “further embarrassment,” even as he denied allegations he had received payments from Epstein two decades ago.

A top official in Slovakia, meanwhile, left his position after photos and emails revealed he had met with Epstein in the years after Epstein was released from jail. And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that longtime Epstein friend Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, should tell U.S. investigators whatever he knows about Epstein’s activities.

The revelations continue

The files posted to the department’s website included documents involving Epstein’s friendship with Mountbatten-Windsor, along with Epstein’s email correspondence with onetime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and other prominent contacts with people in political, business and philanthropic circles, such as billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

The Epstein saga has long fueled public fascination in part because of his past friendships with Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Both men have said they had no knowledge Epstein was abusing underage girls.

Among the records was a spreadsheet created last August that summarized calls made to the FBI’s National Threat Operation Center or to a hotline set up by prosecutors from people claiming to have some knowledge of wrongdoing by Trump. That document included a range of uncorroborated stories involving different celebrities, and somewhat fantastical scenarios, occasionally with notations indicating what follow-up, if any, was done by agents.

Blanche said Sunday that there were a “ton of people” named in the files besides Trump and that the FBI had fielded “hundreds of calls” about prominent individuals where the allegations were “quickly determined to not be credible.”

Some of Epstein’s personal email correspondence contained candid discussions with others about his penchant for paying women for sex, even after he served jail time for soliciting an underage prostitute. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

In one 2013 email, a person whose name was blacked out wrote to Epstein about his choice “to surround yourself with these young women in a capacity that bleeds — perhaps, somewhat arbitrarily — from the professional into the personal and back.”

“Though these women are young, they are not too young to know that they are making a very particular choice in taking on this role with you,” the person wrote. “Especially in the aftermath of your trial which, after all, was public and could be — indeed was — interpreted as a powerful man taking advantage of powerless young women, instead of the other way around.”

In a 2009 email, not long after Epstein had finished serving jail time for his Florida sex crime, another woman, whose name was redacted, excoriated him for breaking a promise that they would spend time alone together and try to conceive a baby.

“I find myself having to question every agreement we have made (no prostitutes staying in the house, in our bed, movies, naps, two weeks Alone, baby…),” She wrote. “Your last minute suggestion to spend THIS weekend with prostitutes is just too much for me to handle. I can’t live like this anymore.”

‘This review is over’

Blanche said in a separate appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that though there are a “small number of documents” the Justice Department was waiting for a judge’s approval before it can release, when it comes to the department’s own scouring of documents, “this review is over.”

“We reviewed over six million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, tens of thousands of images,” Blanche said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believed the Justice Department was complying with the law requiring disclosure of the files.

But Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of the law, said he did not believe the department had fully complied. He said survivors were upset some of their names had inadvertently come out without redactions.

Blanche said each time the department has learned a victim’s name was not properly redacted, it has moved quickly to fix the problem and that those mistakes account for a tiny fraction of the overall materials.

The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from Versant, CBS and NBC. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the files and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/justice-department-official-epstein-files-revelations/ 

Por TIM REYNOLDS

LeBron James es una vez más un All-Star, extendiendo su récord de selecciones consecutivas.

James fue elegido por vigésimo segundo año consecutivo, uno de los 14 jugadores que fueron anunciados el domingo como reservas para el espectáculo de mitad de temporada del 15 de febrero que se llevará a cabo en el estadio de Los Angeles Clippers en Inglewood, California.

James es el poseedor del récord del Juego de Estrellas en varias categorías. Entre ellas: su racha aún activa de selecciones consecutivas, junto con 20 apariciones en el All-Star y 434 puntos en esos encuentros.

La estrella de los Lakers de Los Ángeles no fue elegida como titular esta temporada en el proceso que incluye votación de los fanáticos, los medios y otros jugadores. Los entrenadores de la NBA eligen a los reservas y, si es necesario, el Comisionado Adam Silver seleccionará a cualquier jugador adicional necesario para los equipos del Juego de Estrellas en caso de que alguien deba ser reemplazado por lesión.

James no jugó en el evento All-Star de la temporada pasada debido a una lesión.

Los reservas de la Conferencia Este: Donovan Mitchell, de Cleveland; Karl-Anthony Towns, de Nueva York; Pascal Siakam, de Indiana; Scottie Barnes, de Toronto; Jalen Duren, de Detroit; Norman Powell, de Miami y Jalen Johnson, de Atlanta.

Y de la Conferencia Oeste, junto con James: Anthony Edwards, de Minnesota; Jamal Murray, de Denver; Chet Holmgren, de Oklahoma City; Kevin Durant, de Houston; Devin Booker, de Phoenix y Deni Avdija, de Portland.

Duren, Powell, Johnson, Murray, Holmgren y Avdija fueron seleccionados por primera vez.

El Juego de las Estrellas de esta temporada tiene un formato de torneo: Estados Unidos vs. El Mundo, con tres equipos de al menos ocho jugadores enfrentándose en juegos de 12 minutos. Cada equipo tiene garantizados dos juegos en el evento de todos contra todos, con los dos mejores enfrentándose nuevamente en un juego de campeonato.

Titulares anunciados previamente Los jugadores elegidos el mes pasado como titulares: Giannis Antetokounmpo, de Milwaukee; Jaylen Brown, de Boston; Cade Cunningham, de Detroit; Tyrese Maxey, de Filadelfia; Jalen Brunson, de Nueva York; Stephen Curry, de Golden State; Luka Doncic, de los Lakers; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, de Oklahoma City; Nikola Jokic, de Denver y Victor Wembanyama, de San Antonio.

Antetokounmpo se perderá algunas semanas por una lesión en la pantorrilla, por lo que parece poco probable que juegue. Silver elegiría un reemplazo para Antetokounmpo si se retira.

Brown, Cunningham, Maxey, Brunson y Curry formarían parte de los dos equipos de Estados Unidos. Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic y Wembanyama jugarían para el equipo del Mundo.

La designación de “titular” es un poco engañosa, ya que habrá al menos 15 jugadores que comenzarán para los tres equipos. Por regla de la NBA, se eligen diez jugadores como titulares oficiales y los otros 14 serán listados como reservas.

Entrenadores J.B. Bickerstaff de Detroit entrenará a uno de los equipos del All-Star. Mitch Johnson de San Antonio o David Adelman de Denver entrenarán a otro, eso se decidirá por los resultados de los juegos del domingo, y la NBA no ha revelado cómo se decidirá el entrenador del tercer equipo.

Bickerstaff ganó su puesto porque los Pistons lideran la Conferencia Este. Johnson o Adelman serán elegidos por tener el mejor récord en la Conferencia Oeste entre los entrenadores elegibles; Mark Daigneault de Oklahoma City entrena al equipo con el mejor récord del Oeste, pero no puede entrenar el Juego de las Estrellas este año porque entrenó en el evento la temporada pasada.

___

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/la-racha-de-lebron-james-en-el-juego-de-estrellas-llega-a-22-aos/ 

Por TIM REYNOLDS

LeBron James es una vez más un All-Star, extendiendo su récord de selecciones consecutivas.

James fue elegido por vigésimo segundo año consecutivo, uno de los 14 jugadores que fueron anunciados el domingo como reservas para el espectáculo de mitad de temporada del 15 de febrero que se llevará a cabo en el estadio de Los Angeles Clippers en Inglewood, California.

James es el poseedor del récord del Juego de Estrellas en varias categorías. Entre ellas: su racha aún activa de selecciones consecutivas, junto con 20 apariciones en el All-Star y 434 puntos en esos encuentros.

La estrella de los Lakers de Los Ángeles no fue elegida como titular esta temporada en el proceso que incluye votación de los fanáticos, los medios y otros jugadores. Los entrenadores de la NBA eligen a los reservas y, si es necesario, el Comisionado Adam Silver seleccionará a cualquier jugador adicional necesario para los equipos del Juego de Estrellas en caso de que alguien deba ser reemplazado por lesión.

James no jugó en el evento All-Star de la temporada pasada debido a una lesión.

Los reservas de la Conferencia Este: Donovan Mitchell, de Cleveland; Karl-Anthony Towns, de Nueva York; Pascal Siakam, de Indiana; Scottie Barnes, de Toronto; Jalen Duren, de Detroit; Norman Powell, de Miami y Jalen Johnson, de Atlanta.

Y de la Conferencia Oeste, junto con James: Anthony Edwards, de Minnesota; Jamal Murray, de Denver; Chet Holmgren, de Oklahoma City; Kevin Durant, de Houston; Devin Booker, de Phoenix y Deni Avdija, de Portland.

Duren, Powell, Johnson, Murray, Holmgren y Avdija fueron seleccionados por primera vez.

El Juego de las Estrellas de esta temporada tiene un formato de torneo: Estados Unidos vs. El Mundo, con tres equipos de al menos ocho jugadores enfrentándose en juegos de 12 minutos. Cada equipo tiene garantizados dos juegos en el evento de todos contra todos, con los dos mejores enfrentándose nuevamente en un juego de campeonato.

Titulares anunciados previamente Los jugadores elegidos el mes pasado como titulares: Giannis Antetokounmpo, de Milwaukee; Jaylen Brown, de Boston; Cade Cunningham, de Detroit; Tyrese Maxey, de Filadelfia; Jalen Brunson, de Nueva York; Stephen Curry, de Golden State; Luka Doncic, de los Lakers; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, de Oklahoma City; Nikola Jokic, de Denver y Victor Wembanyama, de San Antonio.

Antetokounmpo se perderá algunas semanas por una lesión en la pantorrilla, por lo que parece poco probable que juegue. Silver elegiría un reemplazo para Antetokounmpo si se retira.

Brown, Cunningham, Maxey, Brunson y Curry formarían parte de los dos equipos de Estados Unidos. Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic y Wembanyama jugarían para el equipo del Mundo.

La designación de “titular” es un poco engañosa, ya que habrá al menos 15 jugadores que comenzarán para los tres equipos. Por regla de la NBA, se eligen diez jugadores como titulares oficiales y los otros 14 serán listados como reservas.

Entrenadores J.B. Bickerstaff de Detroit entrenará a uno de los equipos del All-Star. Mitch Johnson de San Antonio o David Adelman de Denver entrenarán a otro, eso se decidirá por los resultados de los juegos del domingo, y la NBA no ha revelado cómo se decidirá el entrenador del tercer equipo.

Bickerstaff ganó su puesto porque los Pistons lideran la Conferencia Este. Johnson o Adelman serán elegidos por tener el mejor récord en la Conferencia Oeste entre los entrenadores elegibles; Mark Daigneault de Oklahoma City entrena al equipo con el mejor récord del Oeste, pero no puede entrenar el Juego de las Estrellas este año porque entrenó en el evento la temporada pasada.

___

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/la-racha-de-lebron-james-en-el-juego-de-estrellas-llega-a-22-aos/ 

Por TIM REYNOLDS

LeBron James es una vez más un All-Star, extendiendo su récord de selecciones consecutivas.

James fue elegido por vigésimo segundo año consecutivo, uno de los 14 jugadores que fueron anunciados el domingo como reservas para el espectáculo de mitad de temporada del 15 de febrero que se llevará a cabo en el estadio de Los Angeles Clippers en Inglewood, California.

James es el poseedor del récord del Juego de Estrellas en varias categorías. Entre ellas: su racha aún activa de selecciones consecutivas, junto con 20 apariciones en el All-Star y 434 puntos en esos encuentros.

La estrella de los Lakers de Los Ángeles no fue elegida como titular esta temporada en el proceso que incluye votación de los fanáticos, los medios y otros jugadores. Los entrenadores de la NBA eligen a los reservas y, si es necesario, el Comisionado Adam Silver seleccionará a cualquier jugador adicional necesario para los equipos del Juego de Estrellas en caso de que alguien deba ser reemplazado por lesión.

James no jugó en el evento All-Star de la temporada pasada debido a una lesión.

Los reservas de la Conferencia Este: Donovan Mitchell, de Cleveland; Karl-Anthony Towns, de Nueva York; Pascal Siakam, de Indiana; Scottie Barnes, de Toronto; Jalen Duren, de Detroit; Norman Powell, de Miami y Jalen Johnson, de Atlanta.

Y de la Conferencia Oeste, junto con James: Anthony Edwards, de Minnesota; Jamal Murray, de Denver; Chet Holmgren, de Oklahoma City; Kevin Durant, de Houston; Devin Booker, de Phoenix y Deni Avdija, de Portland.

Duren, Powell, Johnson, Murray, Holmgren y Avdija fueron seleccionados por primera vez.

El Juego de las Estrellas de esta temporada tiene un formato de torneo: Estados Unidos vs. El Mundo, con tres equipos de al menos ocho jugadores enfrentándose en juegos de 12 minutos. Cada equipo tiene garantizados dos juegos en el evento de todos contra todos, con los dos mejores enfrentándose nuevamente en un juego de campeonato.

Titulares anunciados previamente Los jugadores elegidos el mes pasado como titulares: Giannis Antetokounmpo, de Milwaukee; Jaylen Brown, de Boston; Cade Cunningham, de Detroit; Tyrese Maxey, de Filadelfia; Jalen Brunson, de Nueva York; Stephen Curry, de Golden State; Luka Doncic, de los Lakers; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, de Oklahoma City; Nikola Jokic, de Denver y Victor Wembanyama, de San Antonio.

Antetokounmpo se perderá algunas semanas por una lesión en la pantorrilla, por lo que parece poco probable que juegue. Silver elegiría un reemplazo para Antetokounmpo si se retira.

Brown, Cunningham, Maxey, Brunson y Curry formarían parte de los dos equipos de Estados Unidos. Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic y Wembanyama jugarían para el equipo del Mundo.

La designación de “titular” es un poco engañosa, ya que habrá al menos 15 jugadores que comenzarán para los tres equipos. Por regla de la NBA, se eligen diez jugadores como titulares oficiales y los otros 14 serán listados como reservas.

Entrenadores J.B. Bickerstaff de Detroit entrenará a uno de los equipos del All-Star. Mitch Johnson de San Antonio o David Adelman de Denver entrenarán a otro, eso se decidirá por los resultados de los juegos del domingo, y la NBA no ha revelado cómo se decidirá el entrenador del tercer equipo.

Bickerstaff ganó su puesto porque los Pistons lideran la Conferencia Este. Johnson o Adelman serán elegidos por tener el mejor récord en la Conferencia Oeste entre los entrenadores elegibles; Mark Daigneault de Oklahoma City entrena al equipo con el mejor récord del Oeste, pero no puede entrenar el Juego de las Estrellas este año porque entrenó en el evento la temporada pasada.

___

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/la-racha-de-lebron-james-en-el-juego-de-estrellas-llega-a-22-aos/ 

Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz remained in contact with the Boston Red Sox through the weekend’s SoxFest Live activities.

The talks paid off in a trade Sunday, with the White Sox acquiring right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks and pitching prospect David Sandlin, along with cash considerations and two players to be named later from the Red Sox for minor-league pitcher Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later.

“There was a lot of positive energy at the Ramova Theatre (for SoxFest Live), but behind the scenes as well we were getting pretty excited about the potential of acquiring players that could help us as well,” Getz said during a videoconference call on Sunday.

“To be able to bring in Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, two high-octane arms. To get two arms like that that can help our major-league club this year, it just made a lot of sense and that’s why we went ahead and made the deal.”

Hicks is 17-35 with a 4.41 ERA in 275 career appearances (37 starts) over parts of seven major-league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (2018-19, 2021-23), Toronto Blue Jays (2023), San Francisco Giants (2024-25) and Red Sox (2025). He has 409 strikeouts and 212 walks in 420 1/3 career innings.

Hicks, 29, also has 35 career saves and 55 holds. He has thrown 1,733 career pitches at 100-plus mph since 2018, the most in the major leagues over that period of time.

‘He’s going to be finishing a lot of games for us’: Chicago White Sox finalize deal with Seranthony Domínguez

“He feels really good this offseason,” Getz said. “He’s been in the upper 90s in his bullpen. Body feels really good. Has that starter capacity built up right now. But remains open-minded in regard to his upcoming role.”

Hicks went a combined 2-7 with a 6.95 ERA and two saves in 34 outings (nine starts) in 2025 for the Giants and Red Sox. He had 58 strikeouts and 32 walks in 67 1/3 innings.

Hicks joined the Red Sox as part of the five-player trade that sent infielder Rafael Devers to the Giants. He was on the injured list from June 3-29 with right great toe inflammation and from Sept. 3 to the end of the season with right shoulder tendinitis.

“I feel like it really put me in a mindset to learn from the experience versus just giving up on myself,” Hicks said of his 2025 during Sunday’s videoconference call. “It really gave me a lot of motivation moving forward and I know for a fact that I’m at my peak athleticism, I think.

“The next few years I’m really excited about. I feel like I’m going into the best version of me. I feel like I can really be that in the next two years for the White Sox.”

Hicks made a career-high 73 appearances working out of the bullpen as a rookie in 2018. The next season, he recorded a career-best 14 saves.

Hicks made a career-high 20 starts in 2024, also reaching career highs in strikeouts (96) and innings pitched (109 2/3).

“My body’s in a great place, probably the best since 2023,” Hicks said. “I think I’m fit for whatever role that the team needs me in.”

Photos: 2026 SoxFest Live at the Ramova Theatre

Sandlin, a right-hander, was the No. 8 prospect in the Red Sox system in the most recent rankings released by MLB.com. He is 13-12 with a 4.38 ERA in 65 career outings (47 starts) over four minor-league seasons in the Kansas City Royals (2022-23) and Red Sox (2024-25) systems. He has 279 strikeouts in 232 career innings.

“He’s a guy we believe has mid-rotation if not better type arsenal and stuff,” Getz said. “He’s worked his way up to the upper minors and he’s going to come into spring training and compete for a spot. Most importantly, he’s got a chance to really impact our starting rotation this year.”

Sandlin, 24, went a combined 9-6 with a 4.50 ERA in 32 appearances (14 starts) last season between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. He had 107 strikeouts in 106 innings.

“We’ve been targeting Sandlin for some time,” Getz said. “With any conversations with the Red Sox, Sandlin was always brought up from our end. It wasn’t easy for them to part with him, but obviously made sense in this one, considering how it was packaged.

“The chance for six years of control of a starting pitcher is super valuable and a welcome addition to our organization.”

MLB.com ranked Ziehl, 22, as the No. 14 prospect in the White Sox system. The White Sox acquired the right-hander last July in a trade that sent outfielder Austin Slater to the New York Yankees. In six starts for High-A Winston-Salem after the trade, Ziehl went 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA.

Chicago White Sox boost their outfield by signing Austin Hays to a 1-year deal

To make room for Hicks and Sandlin on the 40-man roster, the White Sox designated pitcher Jairo Iriarte and catcher Drew Romo for assignment.

Iriarte, who spent most of 2025 at Triple-A Charlotte, was one of the four players acquired as part of the March 2024 trade that sent Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres. The Sox had claimed Romo off waivers from the New York Mets on Jan. 8.

Getz said the conversations with the Red Sox had been going on “for a long time,” with the action heating up over the weekend, leading to the deal.

The roster continues to come into shape as the first workout of spring training for Sox pitchers and catchers on Feb. 10 nears.

“The work never stops,” Getz said. “We’re going to continue to work.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/chicago-white-sox-boston-red-sox-trade-jordan-hicks-david-sandlin/ 

Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz remained in contact with the Boston Red Sox through the weekend’s SoxFest Live activities.

The talks paid off in a trade Sunday, with the White Sox acquiring right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks and pitching prospect David Sandlin, along with cash considerations and two players to be named later from the Red Sox for minor-league pitcher Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later.

“There was a lot of positive energy at the Ramova Theatre (for SoxFest Live), but behind the scenes as well we were getting pretty excited about the potential of acquiring players that could help us as well,” Getz said during a videoconference call on Sunday.

“To be able to bring in Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, two high-octane arms. To get two arms like that that can help our major-league club this year, it just made a lot of sense and that’s why we went ahead and made the deal.”

Hicks is 17-35 with a 4.41 ERA in 275 career appearances (37 starts) over parts of seven major-league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (2018-19, 2021-23), Toronto Blue Jays (2023), San Francisco Giants (2024-25) and Red Sox (2025). He has 409 strikeouts and 212 walks in 420 1/3 career innings.

Hicks, 29, also has 35 career saves and 55 holds. He has thrown 1,733 career pitches at 100-plus mph since 2018, the most in the major leagues over that period of time.

‘He’s going to be finishing a lot of games for us’: Chicago White Sox finalize deal with Seranthony Domínguez

“He feels really good this offseason,” Getz said. “He’s been in the upper 90s in his bullpen. Body feels really good. Has that starter capacity built up right now. But remains open-minded in regard to his upcoming role.”

Hicks went a combined 2-7 with a 6.95 ERA and two saves in 34 outings (nine starts) in 2025 for the Giants and Red Sox. He had 58 strikeouts and 32 walks in 67 1/3 innings.

Hicks joined the Red Sox as part of the five-player trade that sent infielder Rafael Devers to the Giants. He was on the injured list from June 3-29 with right great toe inflammation and from Sept. 3 to the end of the season with right shoulder tendinitis.

“I feel like it really put me in a mindset to learn from the experience versus just giving up on myself,” Hicks said of his 2025 during Sunday’s videoconference call. “It really gave me a lot of motivation moving forward and I know for a fact that I’m at my peak athleticism, I think.

“The next few years I’m really excited about. I feel like I’m going into the best version of me. I feel like I can really be that in the next two years for the White Sox.”

Hicks made a career-high 73 appearances working out of the bullpen as a rookie in 2018. The next season, he recorded a career-best 14 saves.

Hicks made a career-high 20 starts in 2024, also reaching career highs in strikeouts (96) and innings pitched (109 2/3).

“My body’s in a great place, probably the best since 2023,” Hicks said. “I think I’m fit for whatever role that the team needs me in.”

Photos: 2026 SoxFest Live at the Ramova Theatre

Sandlin, a right-hander, was the No. 8 prospect in the Red Sox system in the most recent rankings released by MLB.com. He is 13-12 with a 4.38 ERA in 65 career outings (47 starts) over four minor-league seasons in the Kansas City Royals (2022-23) and Red Sox (2024-25) systems. He has 279 strikeouts in 232 career innings.

“He’s a guy we believe has mid-rotation if not better type arsenal and stuff,” Getz said. “He’s worked his way up to the upper minors and he’s going to come into spring training and compete for a spot. Most importantly, he’s got a chance to really impact our starting rotation this year.”

Sandlin, 24, went a combined 9-6 with a 4.50 ERA in 32 appearances (14 starts) last season between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. He had 107 strikeouts in 106 innings.

“We’ve been targeting Sandlin for some time,” Getz said. “With any conversations with the Red Sox, Sandlin was always brought up from our end. It wasn’t easy for them to part with him, but obviously made sense in this one, considering how it was packaged.

“The chance for six years of control of a starting pitcher is super valuable and a welcome addition to our organization.”

MLB.com ranked Ziehl, 22, as the No. 14 prospect in the White Sox system. The White Sox acquired the right-hander last July in a trade that sent outfielder Austin Slater to the New York Yankees. In six starts for High-A Winston-Salem after the trade, Ziehl went 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA.

Chicago White Sox boost their outfield by signing Austin Hays to a 1-year deal

To make room for Hicks and Sandlin on the 40-man roster, the White Sox designated pitcher Jairo Iriarte and catcher Drew Romo for assignment.

Iriarte, who spent most of 2025 at Triple-A Charlotte, was one of the four players acquired as part of the March 2024 trade that sent Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres. The Sox had claimed Romo off waivers from the New York Mets on Jan. 8.

Getz said the conversations with the Red Sox had been going on “for a long time,” with the action heating up over the weekend, leading to the deal.

The roster continues to come into shape as the first workout of spring training for Sox pitchers and catchers on Feb. 10 nears.

“The work never stops,” Getz said. “We’re going to continue to work.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/01/chicago-white-sox-boston-red-sox-trade-jordan-hicks-david-sandlin/