What’s New

Read More

For as much as Luka Doncic does for his team on the court, his team does that much less when he’s not on the court. The Dallas Mavericks have re-centered themselves in the Western Conference playoff picture courtesy of their young superstar, but have failed to gain momentum despite Doncic’s nightly MVP performances.

The Mavericks are one of the few teams in the Western Conference playoff picture that have not seen first place. The streaky West has seen nine other teams spend a day in first place so far this season, per ESPN Stats & Information research, and many of which don’t boast a talent like Doncic.

Now the door might be closing for Dallas to make a run to the top of the conference, as the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies are putting their feet on the gas with six and 10-game winning streaks, respectively.

The Boston Celtics might also be outpacing anyone in the Eastern Conference. The team that has spent much of the year with the NBA’s best record has put together a seven-game winning streak and has returned to its early-season form.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 13

ESPN

1. Boston Celtics2022-23 record: 33-12Previous ranking: 1

After being 27th in offensive rating in December, Boston has catapulted back up to sixth in January, thanks in part to their shooting normalizing again. With space opening up between them and Milwaukee and Philadelphia in second and third, respectively, it’s starting to look like the Celtics will have the opportunity to run away and hide in the race for the top spot in the conference. — Bontemps

2. Denver Nuggets2022-23 record: 31-13Previous ranking: 2

Nikola Jokic is making a serious case for his third consecutive MVP with how he is leading the Nuggets, but Denver proved against the Los Angeles Clippers that they can still be successful without their triple-double machine center. That should make the league scared of what the Nuggets could continue to do this season. — Andrews

3. Memphis Grizzlies2022-23 record: 30-13Previous ranking: 3

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

Desmond Bane wants to see how he fares when his minutes get pushed into the upper 30s before declaring himself fully back from the toe injury that sidelined him for more than a month, but Bane’s shooting has certainly returned to form. He has averaged 22 points in the last five games while shooting 51.9% from the floor and 59.4% from 3-point range. The sizzling Grizzlies are winners of 10 in a row and have outscored opponents by 19 points per 100 possessions with Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bane on the floor this season. — MacMahon

4. Milwaukee Bucks2022-23 record: 29-16Previous ranking: 5

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his fourth straight game on Tuesday against the Raptors with left knee soreness as Milwaukee wanted to remain cautious with their star, but the Bucks do not play their next game until Saturday night. Antetokounmpo has gone through his usual pregame routine despite not playing in recent games. — Collier

5. Brooklyn Nets2022-23 record: 27-16Previous ranking: 4

It feels like deja vu all over again for the Nets, who just aren’t the same without Kevin Durant. The Nets come into Thursday’s game against Phoenix having lost three straight after winning 18 of 20 with Durant healthy. The offensive rhythm hasn’t been there and the defense has been inconsistent without one of its key cogs on the floor. The Nets went 5-16 without Durant last year while he rehabbed an MCL injury in his left knee. They appear headed to a similar fate unless things turn around quickly as he rehabs an MCL in his right knee this year. — Friedell

6. Philadelphia 76ers2022-23 record: 28-16Previous ranking: 7

Don’t look now, but Philadelphia is sitting at third in the East, and has gone 27-12 since a 1-4 start to the campaign. What was supposed to be a huge game against Brooklyn next week has lost some luster with Kevin Durant going down with an MCL sprain, but the 76ers are looking like every bit of the threat to make a deep playoff run they hoped to be when the season began. — Bontemps

7. Cleveland Cavaliers2022-23 record: 28-17Previous ranking: 6

Darius Garland‘s 30 points and 11 assists in a win over a very good, albeit Zion Williamson-less New Orleans Pelicans team, was impressive, but the best moment from Monday’s game was hilariously captured by Richard Jefferson’s Instagram account. I guess that’s what reminiscing about the 2018 NBA Finals run looks like between Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. — McMenamin

8. Miami Heat2022-23 record: 24-21Previous ranking: 14

Miami picked up back-to-back wins against the Bucks before dropping Monday’s game to Atlanta — in the middle of a tough week which includes two games against the Pelicans and a meeting with both the Celtics and Mavericks. Jimmy Butler appears to be finding a groove again as evidenced by the 23 points he’s averaging in January and the 34 points he scored in Monday’s loss to the Hawks. — Friedell

9. Sacramento Kings2022-23 record: 24-18Previous ranking: 12

The Kings won all four of their games last week and scored no fewer than 132 in any of their wins, which makes sense since their offense leads the league in points per game. Their scoring makes up for their defense, but if they can figure that out, the Kings’ beam could shine even brighter. — Andrews

10. Dallas Mavericks2022-23 record: 24-21Previous ranking: 9

With half of the rotation injured, the Mavs were running on fumes by the end of a five-game road trip. The lone win on the trip came in double overtime over the Los Angeles Lakers, when Doncic played a career-high 53 minutes. He was held to a season-low 15 points in a loss in Portland two nights later and sat out the second end of the back-to-back, as he’s done five times this season. — MacMahon

11. New York Knicks2022-23 record: 25-20Previous ranking: 13

New York was a couple of inches away from a perfect 4-0 week, with Jalen Brunson‘s game-winning 3-pointer ending up just long in Monday’s wild matinee loss in overtime to Toronto. Still, the Knicks continue to sit in sixth in the Eastern Conference, and Jalen Brunson is averaging more points than anyone but Joel Embiid among East players in the month of January. Brunson could be representing New York in the All-Star Game next month. — Bontemps

12. New Orleans Pelicans2022-23 record: 26-18Previous ranking: 8

Despite Brandon Ingram not playing since Nov. 25, and Zion Williamson and Herb Jones being limited to just 29 games this season because of injuries, the Pelicans are still 26-18 and in third place in the Western Conference. Staying near the top of the standings has a lot to do with the play of CJ McCollum. In the last 16 games, McCollum is averaging 27.0 points per game and shooting 47.9% from deep. In that stretch, McCollum has hit 70 3-pointers. Only Buddy Hield and LaMelo Ball (both at 71) have hit more. — Lopez

13. LA Clippers2022-23 record: 23-23Previous ranking: 15

The Clippers got Paul George back from a hamstring injury that cost him five consecutive games. But George’s return was not enough for the Clippers to overcome the Sixers or some of the issues they’ve had in losing eight of their last 10 games. The Clippers’ offense stalls, they turn the ball over too much, can’t rebound at times and lack continuity. With John Wall (abdomen) out at least two weeks and Luke Kennard (calf) still out, the Clippers need Reggie Jackson, whose back tightened up on Tuesday, to stay health. — Youngmisuk

14. Golden State Warriors2022-23 record: 22-22Previous ranking: 11

The Warriors are stuck in a cycle: Put together an OK game and find a way to close out in the fourth quarter, then lose the next game and repeat. When asked why they haven’t been able to string together consistent play, no one seems to know the answer. Until they figure that out, they will continue to hover around .500 and just hope they turn a corner soon. — Andrews

15. Indiana Pacers2022-23 record: 23-22Previous ranking: 10

Wednesday

Hawks-Mavs, 7:30 p.m. Wolves-Nuggets, 10 p.m.

Friday

Heat-Mavs, 7:30 p.m.Grizzlies-Lakers, 10 p.m.

*All times Eastern

Indiana is already finding out how difficult life without Tyrese Haliburton is going to be. They have dropped three games in a row since Haliburton injured his elbow last Wednesday and the Pacers are going to be without their emerging star point guard for at least two weeks. — Collier

16. Atlanta Hawks2022-23 record: 22-22Previous ranking: 20

With Clint Capela dealing with a calf injury, Onyeka Okongwu made the most of his minutes in his absence. On Friday against the Indiana Pacers, Okongwu tied his season high with 18 points and set a new career high with 20 rebounds, besting his previous career mark by five. Okongwu had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the first half, marking the first time in his career he had a double-double in a single half. — Lopez

17. Utah Jazz2022-23 record: 23-24Previous ranking: 21

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, rookie center Walker Kessler is the first player to average a double-double while shooting at least 70% from the floor in his first 10 starts since starters were first tracked on box scores in 1970-71. With his performance Monday against the Timberwolves — the team that traded him to Utah in the Rudy Gobert deal — Kessler joined Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning as the only rookies since 1990 to have 20/20 nights while shooting at least 65% from the floor. — MacMahon

18. Oklahoma City Thunder2022-23 record: 21-23Previous ranking: 25

Oklahoma City has won five of its last six games, and Josh Giddey has played some of his best basketball to date during that stretch. The 20-year-old is averaging 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.8 assists in the last six games and capped that off with a 28-point performance in Sunday’s win against the Nets. The 28 points ties Giddey’s career high which he set last February against the Knicks. — Lopez

19. Phoenix Suns2022-23 record: 21-24Previous ranking: 16

The wheels are starting to come off for last season’s leader in wins during the 82-game slate. Phoenix has lost nine out of its last 10, including a 29-point drilling in Denver and a 30-point blowout loss to Memphis. As if it wasn’t already urgent for the Suns to find a trade partner for Jae Crowder, help can’t come soon enough. — McMenamin

20. Minnesota Timberwolves2022-23 record: 22-23Previous ranking: 17

NBA on ESPN+

Get access to exclusive original series, premium articles from our NBA insiders, the full 30 for 30 library and more. Sign up now to unlock everything ESPN+ has to offer.

The Timberwolves are still figuring it out, but they have won six of their last eight games. The thing is, they are still without Karl Anthony-Towns. Yes, he is their franchise player, but the chemistry between him and Rudy Gobert was absent to start the year. So, how will they mesh once he’s returned? — Andrews

21. Portland Trail Blazers2022-23 record: 21-23Previous ranking: 18

The Blazers halted a five-game skid on the back of Damian Lillard, who led them to back-to-back wins at home against Dallas. Lillard is heating up with 35 or more points in four straight games. However, Lillard’s 44 points wasn’t enough to upset Jokic in Denver. With the next six games at home, Portland has a chance to make up for their slide. — Youngmisuk

22. Los Angeles Lakers2022-23 record: 20-24Previous ranking: 19

It wasn’t the loudest of endorsements, and it almost went unnoticed, as it came in the aftermath of a disappointing last-second loss to Philadelphia, but LeBron James acknowledged some growth in the Lakers this week. “We’re better than the start of the season,” James said. The Lakers are 18-14 since their 2-10 start and could be getting Anthony Davis back in the lineup in about a week. Maybe the dog days are over. — McMenamin

23. Chicago Bulls2022-23 record: 20-24Previous ranking: 22

DeMar DeRozan, who missed the last three games with a right quad strain, said he plans to play during the Bulls’ lone game this week in Paris on Thursday against the Detroit Pistons. Chicago went 1-2 without their leading scorer, who is putting up another season worthy of All-Star consideration, averaging 26-5-5 on 51% shooting. — Collier

24. Toronto Raptors2022-23 record: 20-25Previous ranking: 23

Toronto’s topsy-turvy season continued over the weekend, with disappointing losses in winnable games against Atlanta and a depleted Milwaukee team, sandwiched around a thrilling overtime win over the Knicks across the past few days. Time is running out for the Raptors to salvage their season before some hard choices will have to be made ahead of next month’s trade deadline. — Bontemps

25. Washington Wizards2022-23 record: 18-26Previous ranking: 24

LeBron James is on track to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leader in regular-season points this season. We’ll have complete coverage all year long.

o Game-by-game points trackero MacMahon: Could Luka catch LeBron?o The last game LeBron didn’t score 10o Windhorst: Who’s assisted LeBron most?o Goldsberry: The 3’s impact on LeBron

The Wizards have dropped five of their last six since Bradley Beal injured his hamstring early in Milwaukee on Jan. 3. Beal was ruled out before the Wizards’ last game against Golden State, so he could be nearing a return. Washington needs Beal back soon with six of the next seven games on the road. — Youngmisuk

26. Orlando Magic2022-23 record: 16-28Previous ranking: 26

Orlando is finally home again after an up-and-down five-game West Coast swing. While Jokic broke their hearts by knocking a game-winning 3 at the buzzer on Sunday, the Magic continue to show signs of improvement. Markelle Fultz had 20 points in Sunday’s loss and is averaging 14.1 points, 6.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds over seven games in January. — Friedell

27. Charlotte Hornets2022-23 record: 11-34Previous ranking: 28

The losses just keep piling up in Charlotte. The Hornets have dropped five straight games and have given up an average of 124.8 points per game over that stretch. A small bright spot? LaMelo Ball is averaging 28 points over his last four games. — Friedell

28. San Antonio Spurs2022-23 record: 14-31Previous ranking: 27

The Spurs set a new NBA attendance record on Friday night with 68,323 people inside the Alamodome — the team’s former home. Unfortunately for Spurs fans, the Warriors were in town and played spoiler to San Antonio’s homecoming. The 144-113 loss narrowly avoided being the Spurs’ worst loss ever in the Alamodome (33 points to the Raptors in Feb. 1997), but it was the most points the team had ever allowed there in 354 games. — Lopez

29. Detroit Pistons 2022-23 record: 12-35Previous ranking: 29

Pistons guard Killian Hayes grew up in Cholet, France, and played professionally in France for two years before getting drafted in 2020. He returns to the court in his home country for Detroit’s game against Chicago in Paris on Thursday. — Collier

30. Houston Rockets2022-23 record: 10-34Previous ranking: 30

Alperen Sengun has been a major bright spot for the Rockets in the midst of an 11-game losing streak. A few games after becoming the youngest player in franchise history to record a triple-double, the 20-year-old big man had 33 points on 14-of-17 shooting, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in Monday’s loss to the Lakers. He joined Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing as the only players to post 30-15-5 lines on 80% shooting since 1995, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. — MacMahon

Read More

It’s hard to convey how much the music of John Cale means to me. The Welsh-born polymath cofounded the Velvet Underground, bringing a crucial avant-garde perspective to the band; he’d worked with experimental titans Tony Conrad and La Monte Young back when Lou Reed was still writing teenage doo-wop pastiches. When Cale left the band in 1968, they lost his exploratory edge and viola sawing. They started writing pop songs, and Cale did the same. His 1970 record Vintage Violence features catchy nuggets that reference classical music, creating an elegiac vibe he further explored on 1973’s Paris 1919 (perhaps his best-loved album to date). Over the next several decades he also brought his inventive, eloquent perspective to synth pop, piano ballads, and alt-rock and amassed a body of work in movie music, writing scores and soundtracks for independent films as well as box-office hits such as American Psycho.

Cale’s brand-new double LP, Mercy, is his first since 2016’s M:FANS (itself a reworking of 1982’s Music for a New Society), though he hasn’t left music in the meantime—I caught him in concert at the School of the Art Institute in January 2020. Written over several years, Mercy feels conditioned by the pandemic and other world tragedies and often seems to seek redemption in dark times. The title track expresses this in seething, queasy adult-contemporary songcraft with cold synths and sparse, hollow percussion reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. “Marilyn Monroe’s Legs (Beauty Elsewhere)” and “Not the End of the World” are captivating bits of illbient tuneage; the instrumental elements cascade in and out, and Cale bathes his smooth brogue and wordless grunts in oodles of delay. “Moonstruck” is a spacey, orchestral ode to Nico, Cale’s Velvet Underground bandmate and longtime collaborator, that recalls his classic symphonic 70s period—it gives him room to breathe in his own sense of time. 

Mercy unfortunately relies a little too heavily on chintzy digital beats and glitchy avant-garde electronica, both of which start to feel dated and played out. The album is also loaded with collaborations, not all of which feel necessary. “Time Stands Still” has a sweet melody (it even incorporates a Christmas madrigal), but the subtle computer manipulations and whispered vocals from Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso feel redundant. The Auto-Tuned vocal loops that Animal Collective provide to start “Everlasting Days” are hard for me to listen to, because it bothers me to hear the mythic Cale paired with sub-Beach Boys indie cutesiness—and the song’s wafer-thin backbeat is absolutely abysmal.

Some of the guest stars work great, though: on the epic art-rock ballad “Story of Blood,” Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood adds deep, ethereal background vocals that complement Cale’s baritone (I could imagine Nico recording the track in her later period). The thoroughly weird “The Legal Status of Ice,” made with the unfortunately named Fat White Family, relies on thin computer-generated stuff but also uses what sounds like a touch of analog percussion, thus approaching actual rock ’n’ roll. The album closes with the plaintive “Out Your Window,” which starts with Cale on piano and vocals before swirling into a thicker composition. It had me longing for a proper Cale solo album, without the distractions of extraneous musicians or programmed rhythms that sound 15 years out of date. Sure, he’s mined that stripped-down terrain before, but I prefer it when he focuses on his smart lyrics and his talent for summoning moods. That said, Mercy has its great moments, and it may yet grow on me.

John Cale’s Mercy is available through Domino.

Read More

It’s hard to convey how much the music of John Cale means to me. The Welsh-born polymath cofounded the Velvet Underground, bringing a crucial avant-garde perspective to the band; he’d worked with experimental titans Tony Conrad and La Monte Young back when Lou Reed was still writing teenage doo-wop pastiches. When Cale left the band in 1968, they lost his exploratory edge and viola sawing. They started writing pop songs, and Cale did the same. His 1970 record Vintage Violence features catchy nuggets that reference classical music, creating an elegiac vibe he further explored on 1973’s Paris 1919 (perhaps his best-loved album to date). Over the next several decades he also brought his inventive, eloquent perspective to synth pop, piano ballads, and alt-rock and amassed a body of work in movie music, writing scores and soundtracks for independent films as well as box-office hits such as American Psycho.

Cale’s brand-new double LP, Mercy, is his first since 2016’s M:FANS (itself a reworking of 1982’s Music for a New Society), though he hasn’t left music in the meantime—I caught him in concert at the School of the Art Institute in January 2020. Written over several years, Mercy feels conditioned by the pandemic and other world tragedies and often seems to seek redemption in dark times. The title track expresses this in seething, queasy adult-contemporary songcraft with cold synths and sparse, hollow percussion reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. “Marilyn Monroe’s Legs (Beauty Elsewhere)” and “Not the End of the World” are captivating bits of illbient tuneage; the instrumental elements cascade in and out, and Cale bathes his smooth brogue and wordless grunts in oodles of delay. “Moonstruck” is a spacey, orchestral ode to Nico, Cale’s Velvet Underground bandmate and longtime collaborator, that recalls his classic symphonic 70s period—it gives him room to breathe in his own sense of time. 

Mercy unfortunately relies a little too heavily on chintzy digital beats and glitchy avant-garde electronica, both of which start to feel dated and played out. The album is also loaded with collaborations, not all of which feel necessary. “Time Stands Still” has a sweet melody (it even incorporates a Christmas madrigal), but the subtle computer manipulations and whispered vocals from Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso feel redundant. The Auto-Tuned vocal loops that Animal Collective provide to start “Everlasting Days” are hard for me to listen to, because it bothers me to hear the mythic Cale paired with sub-Beach Boys indie cutesiness—and the song’s wafer-thin backbeat is absolutely abysmal.

Some of the guest stars work great, though: on the epic art-rock ballad “Story of Blood,” Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood adds deep, ethereal background vocals that complement Cale’s baritone (I could imagine Nico recording the track in her later period). The thoroughly weird “The Legal Status of Ice,” made with the unfortunately named Fat White Family, relies on thin computer-generated stuff but also uses what sounds like a touch of analog percussion, thus approaching actual rock ’n’ roll. The album closes with the plaintive “Out Your Window,” which starts with Cale on piano and vocals before swirling into a thicker composition. It had me longing for a proper Cale solo album, without the distractions of extraneous musicians or programmed rhythms that sound 15 years out of date. Sure, he’s mined that stripped-down terrain before, but I prefer it when he focuses on his smart lyrics and his talent for summoning moods. That said, Mercy has its great moments, and it may yet grow on me.

John Cale’s Mercy is available through Domino.

Read More

Read More

For as much as Luka Doncic does for his team on the court, his team does that much less when he’s not on the court. The Dallas Mavericks have re-centered themselves in the Western Conference playoff picture courtesy of their young superstar, but have failed to gain momentum despite Doncic’s nightly MVP performances.

The Mavericks are one of the few teams in the Western Conference playoff picture that have not seen first place. The streaky West has seen nine other teams spend a day in first place so far this season, per ESPN Stats & Information research, and many of which don’t boast a talent like Doncic.

Now the door might be closing for Dallas to make a run to the top of the conference, as the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies are putting their feet on the gas with six and 10-game winning streaks, respectively.

The Boston Celtics might also be outpacing anyone in the Eastern Conference. The team that has spent much of the year with the NBA’s best record has put together a seven-game winning streak and has returned to its early-season form.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 10

With roughly seven weeks to go until round one of the mayoral election, here’s what we know so far from the latest polls.

If the election were held today, the winner would be . . . Karen Lewis!

OK, I’ll get to that. But, first, a word or two about a recent “poll”. 

It was put out by Crain’s Chicago Business and the Daily Line, who explain that, despite headlines to the contrary, it’s a “survey” not a poll.

Not sure what the distinction is. And I’m sure there’s no truth to the rumors that it’s based on  Crain’s political columnist Greg Hinz standing on the corner of State and Randloph and calling out to passersby, “Hey, who ya’ votin’ for?” 

According to the survey/poll, Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson and Congressperson Jesús “Chuy” García are tied at the top without 25 percent of the vote.

Not surprisingly, that finding is enthusiastically championed by Johnson and García and disdainfully dismissed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Willie Wilson, Paul Vallas, Kam Buckner, Sophia King, Ja’Mal Green, and Roderick Sawyer. AKA—the other candidates in the race.

I’m with them—I don’t believe that poll/survey, either. Don’t take it personally, Crain’s—at the moment, I’m not believing any polls.

No, it’s pretty obvious that campaign strategists are using fake polls as propaganda to fire up their supporters and dispirit their opponents. 

It’s dirty politics masked as scientific research, and as usual the Republicans are a step ahead of the Democrats at this game. As we saw in the midterms when a series of phony Republican polls bamboozled the New York Times into sounding a warning about a Red Tide. Which turned out to be a red trickle.

The brouhaha over the mayoral poll/survey demonstrates the reality about mayoral elections that all candidates would agree on, so long as they’re speaking off the record.

Chicago politics is a little like making hit movies in Hollywood—no one knows nothing.

If we’ve learned anything from the last two mayoral elections, it’s all about the runoff, baby. If no one gets 50 percent or more from the first round on February 28, it comes down to a winner-takes-it-all showdown on April 4.

So this first round is basically a race to the runoff.

And outside a few diehards—like the people reading this column—the vast majority of Chicago voters are not yet paying attention.

Alas, the vast majority of Chicagoans will never be paying attention, if the trend of 35 percent voter turnout continues.

Having said all that, let me say this . . .

The idea of Johnson and García making the runoff caught me off guard.

As a lifelong lefty I’ve been conditioned to believe I’m so far to the left of ordinary Chicagoans that anyone I’d even consider voting for would undoubtedly lose. For me, a mayoral election is usually about deciding between the lesser of two evils—since Harold Washington, anyway. 

But at the head of this poll are two left-of-center candidates who owe their careers to Karen Lewis, the unabashedly radical former president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Is it possible that Chicago’s not so conservative after all?

Brandon Johnson worked for Karen Lewis—she hired him as a political organizer. And it was with CTU backing that he unseated Commissioner Richard Boykin as commissioner from a west and west suburban district in 2018.

He’s backed by CTU in the mayor’s race.

I have a feeling that García would have won CTU’s backing for mayor had he not dithered so much about whether he was going to run at all.

He only decided to jump in after lefties got tired of waiting for him to make up his mind and Johnson was already running.

Over the last few years, García has become a favorite of progressives outside of Chicago, by virtue of his ties to Senator Bernie Sanders. But let’s not forget that he owes his career to Karen Lewis. She plucked him from the scrap heap of Chicago politics and propped him up to run for mayor against Rahm Emanuel in 2015.

Lewis wanted to back Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle—but Preckwinkle opted not to run . . .

She tried to run herself. But she got sick.

So she surprised everybody by selecting García as the candidate. And then pretty much carried him to the runoff.

Back to the current race. It looks like Mayor Lightfoot’s internal polls show García is her biggest rival.

I say that because she launched an attack ad against him.

The ad rips García for taking campaign contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried—aka the Crypto Kid.

Bankman-Fried’s the 30-year-old wunderkind who convinced hundreds of fabulously wealthy people to throw millions and millions of dollars his way. He wound up allegedly spending money intended for one company, FTX, on another company, Alameda Research. Both companies went belly up, and he’s now facing federal corruption charges that could send him to prison.

So, yes, I suppose it’s fair game for Lightfoot to attack Garcia for taking donations from the Crypto Kid. On the other hand . . .

Lightfoot has her own connections to Bankman-Fried. Back in May, she was gushing over a promise by FTX to offer money and financial literacy training to low-income Chicagoans. 

Yes, she and her advisors thought it was a good idea to have a con man teach lessons of the marketplace to our citizens. Clearly, Elizabeth Holmes was unavailable for the job.

That program fell apart in the wake of FTX’s demise. If you want to know more about it, read this exposé by Manny Ramos or listen to our conversation on my podcast.

What’s worse—taking campaign contributions from Bankman-Fried or asking him to teach financial literacy to our citizens?

Eventually, dear voters, you get to decide.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

Read More

Trade in an empty bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce on January 22, and receive a free 1/4 chicken at Nando’s

Nando’s believes that hot sauce and chicken go together like . . . well, like hot sauce and chicken. Just try to name a more iconic duo. We’ll wait. 

In fact, Nando’s loves this perfect pair so much that they’re turning up the heat this National Hot Sauce Day and celebrating them both—and they’re inviting you to join in on the fun.

On January 22, 2023, you can trade in an empty bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce at any Nando’s restaurant across Chicagoland and receive a free quarter chicken for dine-in or carryout (limit one per guest while supplies last).

Available in five delicious varieties—Lemon & Herb, Garlic, Medium, Hot, & XX Hot—Nando’s’ PERi-PERi sauce can be purchased at any Nando’s location, on their website, or at major retailers, including Mariano’s, Whole Foods Market, Walmart, Target, Meijer, Pete’s Fresh Market, The Fresh Market, and Fresh Farms. 

Beloved by spicy food fans around the world, peri-peri sauce is believed to have been invented by Portuguese explorers in 15th-century Mozambique, who combined crushed African bird’s eye chili peppers with aromatic garlic and lemon, as well as flavorful European ingredients, including paprika, bay leaf, and red wine vinegar. 

While Nando’s customers might know PERi-PERi sauce best as a marinade and condiment for Nando’s delectable flame-grilled chicken, there are practically endless ways to enjoy it. Baste your beef, shrimp, or fish; drizzle it over eggs, roasted veggies, or mac & cheese; slather it over sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs; add it to a party dip or game-day wings, or invent a new flavor-packed dish of your own. (Check out Nando’s website for more mouthwatering recipe ideas.) They’re made without artificial preservatives, artificial colors, or artificial flavors, and since they’re naturally gluten-free, certified kosher, and suitable for vegetarians, everyone can dig in and feel the heat.

Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce starts with African bird’s eye chili peppers sourced from their network of 1,400 local farmers located across southern Africa, whom they empower through providing access to funds, farming equipment, and seedlings as well as commitments to buy peppers at prices predetermined before the start of growing season. 

African bird’s eye chilis aren’t just flavorful and spicy—they’re healthy too. They’re loaded with capsaicin, which provides the heat factor and has been associated with many health benefits including boosting metabolism and energy, reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, and more. Experts also claim it helps reduce appetite, which may be true, though it hasn’t lessened our cravings for PERi-PERi sauce. 

So, choose your favorite variety of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce or try all five, and join Nando’s National Hot Sauce Day celebration on January 22. Whether you’re already a spice lover, or trying PERi-PERi sauce for the first time, there’s always plenty of room at Nando’s table for you.

For more information about National Hot Sauce Day at Nando’s and to find out where you can purchase a bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce near you, visit nandosperiperi.com.

Read More

With roughly seven weeks to go until round one of the mayoral election, here’s what we know so far from the latest polls.

If the election were held today, the winner would be . . . Karen Lewis!

OK, I’ll get to that. But, first, a word or two about a recent “poll”. 

It was put out by Crain’s Chicago Business and the Daily Line, who explain that, despite headlines to the contrary, it’s a “survey” not a poll.

Not sure what the distinction is. And I’m sure there’s no truth to the rumors that it’s based on  Crain’s political columnist Greg Hinz standing on the corner of State and Randloph and calling out to passersby, “Hey, who ya’ votin’ for?” 

According to the survey/poll, Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson and Congressperson Jesús “Chuy” García are tied at the top without 25 percent of the vote.

Not surprisingly, that finding is enthusiastically championed by Johnson and García and disdainfully dismissed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Willie Wilson, Paul Vallas, Kam Buckner, Sophia King, Ja’Mal Green, and Roderick Sawyer. AKA—the other candidates in the race.

I’m with them—I don’t believe that poll/survey, either. Don’t take it personally, Crain’s—at the moment, I’m not believing any polls.

No, it’s pretty obvious that campaign strategists are using fake polls as propaganda to fire up their supporters and dispirit their opponents. 

It’s dirty politics masked as scientific research, and as usual the Republicans are a step ahead of the Democrats at this game. As we saw in the midterms when a series of phony Republican polls bamboozled the New York Times into sounding a warning about a Red Tide. Which turned out to be a red trickle.

The brouhaha over the mayoral poll/survey demonstrates the reality about mayoral elections that all candidates would agree on, so long as they’re speaking off the record.

Chicago politics is a little like making hit movies in Hollywood—no one knows nothing.

If we’ve learned anything from the last two mayoral elections, it’s all about the runoff, baby. If no one gets 50 percent or more from the first round on February 28, it comes down to a winner-takes-it-all showdown on April 4.

So this first round is basically a race to the runoff.

And outside a few diehards—like the people reading this column—the vast majority of Chicago voters are not yet paying attention.

Alas, the vast majority of Chicagoans will never be paying attention, if the trend of 35 percent voter turnout continues.

Having said all that, let me say this . . .

The idea of Johnson and García making the runoff caught me off guard.

As a lifelong lefty I’ve been conditioned to believe I’m so far to the left of ordinary Chicagoans that anyone I’d even consider voting for would undoubtedly lose. For me, a mayoral election is usually about deciding between the lesser of two evils—since Harold Washington, anyway. 

But at the head of this poll are two left-of-center candidates who owe their careers to Karen Lewis, the unabashedly radical former president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Is it possible that Chicago’s not so conservative after all?

Brandon Johnson worked for Karen Lewis—she hired him as a political organizer. And it was with CTU backing that he unseated Commissioner Richard Boykin as commissioner from a west and west suburban district in 2018.

He’s backed by CTU in the mayor’s race.

I have a feeling that García would have won CTU’s backing for mayor had he not dithered so much about whether he was going to run at all.

He only decided to jump in after lefties got tired of waiting for him to make up his mind and Johnson was already running.

Over the last few years, García has become a favorite of progressives outside of Chicago, by virtue of his ties to Senator Bernie Sanders. But let’s not forget that he owes his career to Karen Lewis. She plucked him from the scrap heap of Chicago politics and propped him up to run for mayor against Rahm Emanuel in 2015.

Lewis wanted to back Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle—but Preckwinkle opted not to run . . .

She tried to run herself. But she got sick.

So she surprised everybody by selecting García as the candidate. And then pretty much carried him to the runoff.

Back to the current race. It looks like Mayor Lightfoot’s internal polls show García is her biggest rival.

I say that because she launched an attack ad against him.

The ad rips García for taking campaign contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried—aka the Crypto Kid.

Bankman-Fried’s the 30-year-old wunderkind who convinced hundreds of fabulously wealthy people to throw millions and millions of dollars his way. He wound up allegedly spending money intended for one company, FTX, on another company, Alameda Research. Both companies went belly up, and he’s now facing federal corruption charges that could send him to prison.

So, yes, I suppose it’s fair game for Lightfoot to attack Garcia for taking donations from the Crypto Kid. On the other hand . . .

Lightfoot has her own connections to Bankman-Fried. Back in May, she was gushing over a promise by FTX to offer money and financial literacy training to low-income Chicagoans. 

Yes, she and her advisors thought it was a good idea to have a con man teach lessons of the marketplace to our citizens. Clearly, Elizabeth Holmes was unavailable for the job.

That program fell apart in the wake of FTX’s demise. If you want to know more about it, read this exposé by Manny Ramos or listen to our conversation on my podcast.

What’s worse—taking campaign contributions from Bankman-Fried or asking him to teach financial literacy to our citizens?

Eventually, dear voters, you get to decide.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

Read More

Trade in an empty bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce on January 22, and receive a free 1/4 chicken at Nando’s

Nando’s believes that hot sauce and chicken go together like . . . well, like hot sauce and chicken. Just try to name a more iconic duo. We’ll wait. 

In fact, Nando’s loves this perfect pair so much that they’re turning up the heat this National Hot Sauce Day and celebrating them both—and they’re inviting you to join in on the fun.

On January 22, 2023, you can trade in an empty bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce at any Nando’s restaurant across Chicagoland and receive a free quarter chicken for dine-in or carryout (limit one per guest while supplies last).

Available in five delicious varieties—Lemon & Herb, Garlic, Medium, Hot, & XX Hot—Nando’s’ PERi-PERi sauce can be purchased at any Nando’s location, on their website, or at major retailers, including Mariano’s, Whole Foods Market, Walmart, Target, Meijer, Pete’s Fresh Market, The Fresh Market, and Fresh Farms. 

Beloved by spicy food fans around the world, peri-peri sauce is believed to have been invented by Portuguese explorers in 15th-century Mozambique, who combined crushed African bird’s eye chili peppers with aromatic garlic and lemon, as well as flavorful European ingredients, including paprika, bay leaf, and red wine vinegar. 

While Nando’s customers might know PERi-PERi sauce best as a marinade and condiment for Nando’s delectable flame-grilled chicken, there are practically endless ways to enjoy it. Baste your beef, shrimp, or fish; drizzle it over eggs, roasted veggies, or mac & cheese; slather it over sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs; add it to a party dip or game-day wings, or invent a new flavor-packed dish of your own. (Check out Nando’s website for more mouthwatering recipe ideas.) They’re made without artificial preservatives, artificial colors, or artificial flavors, and since they’re naturally gluten-free, certified kosher, and suitable for vegetarians, everyone can dig in and feel the heat.

Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce starts with African bird’s eye chili peppers sourced from their network of 1,400 local farmers located across southern Africa, whom they empower through providing access to funds, farming equipment, and seedlings as well as commitments to buy peppers at prices predetermined before the start of growing season. 

African bird’s eye chilis aren’t just flavorful and spicy—they’re healthy too. They’re loaded with capsaicin, which provides the heat factor and has been associated with many health benefits including boosting metabolism and energy, reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, and more. Experts also claim it helps reduce appetite, which may be true, though it hasn’t lessened our cravings for PERi-PERi sauce. 

So, choose your favorite variety of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce or try all five, and join Nando’s National Hot Sauce Day celebration on January 22. Whether you’re already a spice lover, or trying PERi-PERi sauce for the first time, there’s always plenty of room at Nando’s table for you.

For more information about National Hot Sauce Day at Nando’s and to find out where you can purchase a bottle of Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce near you, visit nandosperiperi.com.

Read More