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With the season almost through the first quarter of the schedule, the veteran small forward is at least in the debate for the MVP list. Just don’t remind him of that, as DeRozan’s focus is elsewhere.

DeMar DeRozan won’t win NBA MVP this season.

The media hype machine isn’t in the small forward’s favor, and the fact that he plays alongside a second candidate in Zach LaVine means even if the Bulls are put under a microscope by the voters, there could be some split votes.

There’s no doubt, however, that DeRozan should be in the debate with the first quarter of the season almost in the books.

Even with a subpar performance – by the standards DeRozan has set this season – in the loss to Indiana on Monday, the veteran was 11th in the league in PER [Player Efficiency Rating], and sixth in scoring with 26.3 per game, and doing so on a Bulls team that’s sprinted out of the gate for a 12-6 start.

But numbers don’t necessarily measure the man.

DeRozan’s impact is bigger than stats and analytics.

His on-the court presence has made life easier for LaVine, especially late game when opposing teams have to pick a poison between the two All-Stars. But DeRozan’s off-the-court mentoring has been even more important.

“I’ve never played with a player like Zach before,” DeRozan said. “The things he’s capable of doing offensively is intimidating honestly, how easy he can do the things he can do. It heightens my level to go out there and want to be neck-and-neck with him in competing and helping this team win.

“When I played with Kyle [Lowry back in Toronto], he taught me a lot. He was older than me, and now kind of the roles being reversed, just trying to teach Zach as much as I’ve learned since being in the league, and just going out there with him has definitely been a fun thing.”

And a productive one.

Right behind DeRozan in scoring was Lavine at 25.9 points per game. The only other team that has teammates each scoring close to that clip were the Timberwolves, who had Karl-Anthony Towns 15th with 23.4 points per game, and Anthony Edwards 18th at 22.2 points per game.

Just don’t talk to DeRozan about anything other than winning and getting better.

He was asked about the MVP talk starting to circulate around him, and quickly dismissed it as anything besides just that – talk.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I never once think about [MVP talk],” DeRozan said. “Winning takes care of everything, and as long as we do what we’re supposed to on the court, winning, everything you desire will come with it and you take it as it comes.

“For me I’m just trying to go out there and play every single game. It’s always an honor just to be mentioned as one of the best in the game, you never take that for granted, but for me I just want to continue trying to be a winner and win as many games as I can. When all that piles up, whatever comes with it comes with it.”

So if not DeRozan, who so far? It’s pretty clear cut:

1. Stephen Curry – Golden State – The best player on the best team, and the best shooter ever, Curry is the odds on leader so far.

2. Nikola Jokic – Denver – The record isn’t where it should be, but “Joker” is putting up the same – if not better – numbers than he did last season when he was named MVP.

3. Jimmy Butler – Miami – The former Bull is off to a career-year scoring-wise, and has a ridiculous PER of 30.63, which is third in the league.

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee – His scoring and field goal percentage are down a bit, but still an elite force.

5. Kevin Durant – Brooklyn – Still one of the greatest all-around scorers the game has seen.

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Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy watches his team from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens. | AP Photos

Cary-Grove high school principal Neil Lesinski released a statement on social media Tuesday apologizing for the “Fire Nagy” chants that his school’s student section delivered during its Class 6A state semifinal game against Lake Forest on Saturday.

Cary-Grove high school principal Neil Lesinski released a statement on social media Tuesday apologizing for the “Fire Nagy” chants that his school’s student section delivered during its Class 6A state semifinal game against Lake Forest on Saturday.

Bears coach Matt Nagy has a son that plays on Lake Forest’s football team.

“I want to assure our community that the chant was not acceptable nor appropriate and was immediately addressed by administration at the game,” Lesinski wrote. “We also felt it was important to meet with our student superfans that lead our chants and cheers and talk to them about what happened and give them an opportunity to reflect and correct their actions.”

According to one Lake Forest football player the team has heard the chant at all of its games this season. Matt Nagy was in attendance at the football game in Cary-Grove on Saturday.

The incident gained exposure when the short clip was cut from the online broadcast of the game and posted on Twitter.

High-profile athletes have been the target of student section chants for decades. Jalen Brunson, currently with the Dallas Mavericks, faced such intense chants during his senior year that Stevenson High School had security with him at road games.

Cary-Grove will play East St. Louis in the Class 6A state championship game on Saturday.

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Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski makes her final rebuttal before the jury begins deliberations in the trial of William “Roddie” Bryan, Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael, charged with the February 2020 death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. | AP

“You can’t claim self-defense if you are the unjustified aggressor,” Linda Dunikoski told jurors in her final closing arguments. “Who started this? It wasn’t Ahmaud Arbery.”

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The case of three white men charged with murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery went to a jury Tuesday after a 13-day trial in which prosecutors argued the defendants provoked a confrontation with the 25-year-old Black man and defense attorneys said their clients acted in self-defense.

“You can’t claim self-defense if you are the unjustified aggressor,” Linda Dunikoski told jurors in her final closing arguments. “Who started this? It wasn’t Ahmaud Arbery.”

The prosecution gets the final word because it carries the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent hours on Monday delivering closing arguments that spilled into a second day.

Dunikoski spent two hours Tuesday morning hammering at defense attorneys’ attempts to blame Arbery for his own death. The defense attorneys said Arbery lashed out violently with his fists to resist a lawful citizen’s arrest by the defendants.

Dunikoski said Arbery’s pursuers had “no badge, no uniform, no authority” and were “just some strange guys in a white pickup truck.” And she cited their own words to police immediately after the shooting: that they saw Arbery running but were unsure if he had committed a crime.

“You can’t make a citizen’s arrest because someone’s running down the street and you have no idea what they did wrong,” Dunikoski said.

Once the prosecution wrapped up, Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley began giving instructions to the disproportionately white jury on how to apply the law before it can start deliberations at the Glynn County courthouse in the port city of Brunswick.

Arbery’s killing became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice after a graphic video of his death leaked online two months later.

The McMichaels grabbed guns and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running through their subdivision on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the chase and recorded the video of Travis McMichael opening fire as Arbery threw punches and grabbed for McMichael’s shotgun.

No one was charged in the killing until Bryan’s video leaked and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. All three men are charged with murder and other offenses.

Dunikoski said Tuesday that the McMichaels and Bryan threatened Arbery both with their pickup trucks and by pointing a shotgun at him before the final confrontation in which Arbery threw punches and grabbed for the gun.

She noted that Bryan told police he used his truck to run Arbery into a ditch and cut off his route, while Greg McMichael told officers they had him “trapped like a rat.” The actions of both men, she said, directly contributed to Arbery’s death.

“It doesn’t matter who actually pulled the trigger,” Dunikoski said. “Under the law, they’re all guilty.”

She also said there was no evidence Arbery had committed crimes in the defendants’ neighborhood. She said he was never seen stealing anything the five times he was recorded by security cameras in an unfinished home under construction from which he was seen running.

“You’ve got lumber, you’ve got all this stuff,” Dunikoski said. “Mr. Arbery never shows up with a bag. He doesn’t pull up with a U-haul. … All he does is wander around for a few minutes and then leave.”

The prosecutor told jurors someone can only make a citizen’s arrest in “emergency situations” where a crime is happening “right then and there.”

Defense attorneys objected to Dunikoski’s explanation of citizen’s arrest because they contend the McMichaels had reason to suspect Arbery had stolen items from the home. They said the owner discovered the items missing before he installed security cameras.

“This is a misstatement of the law and the argument is improper,” Franklin Hogue, an attorney for Greg McMichael, told the judge. “There’s no way we can fix it” before the jury, he said, because defense attorneys finished their closing arguments Monday.

Attorney Jason Sheffield said his client, Travis McMichael, fired his shotgun in self-defense after Arbery charged at him, threw punches and tried to grab the weapon. Sheffield called Arbery’s death a tragedy, but one that was his own fault.

Attorneys for the other two defendants blamed Arbery as well. Laura Hogue, an attorney for Greg McMichael, said Arbery “chose to fight.” Kevin Gough, who represents Bryan, questioned why Arbery didn’t call for help if he was in danger.

“Maybe that’s because Mr. Arbery doesn’t want help,” Gough said.

Arbery had enrolled at a technical college and was preparing at the time to study to become an electrician like his uncles.

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People gathered Monday in Waukesha’s Cutler Park for a candlelight vigil for those affected by the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy. | AP

Police Chief Dan Thompson said police were going to recommend the Milwaukee man face five charges of first degree intentional homicide, which is punishable by life in prison.

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The suspect in a Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee that killed five people was free on $1,000 bail posted just two days before the deadly event, a fact that is leading to a review of what happened and renewed calls for giving judges more power to set higher bails.

One pending case against the Milwaukee man included an allegation that he deliberately hit a woman with his car in early November after a fight. Prosecutors in Milwaukee County on Monday called their bail recommendation “inappropriately low” given the facts of that case and the Sunday crash, and said they would review it.

Julius Kim, a defense attorney and former assistant prosecutor, said the bail could easily have been set more than twice as high.

“He was accused of running over the mother of his kid, and to put it at $1,000 strikes me as low,” Kim said. “It could have been an inexperienced attorney who happened to be reviewing cases that day.”

Police said the Milwaukee man, 39, was behind the wheel of the SUV that sped through the parade route in Waukesha on Sunday, killing five and injuring 48 others. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said the man was leaving the scene of a domestic dispute that had taken place just minutes earlier.

Thompson said police were going to recommend he face five charges of first degree intentional homicide, which is punishable by life in prison. He was to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Toppled chairs line West Main Street in downtown Waukesha, Wis., after an SUV drove into a parade of Christmas marchers Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021.

Legal experts cautioned that one extreme case should not be reason to push for higher bail amounts that would keep poorer defendants behind bars longer while they await trial.

“We don’t want to have a kneejerk reaction here and say ‘Let’s lock up a lot of people pretrial,” said John Gross, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and also director of its Public Defender Project.

“I’m sure the district attorney’s office is going to look back at this and ask themselves, ‘Did we get this wrong?’ said Gross, the law school professor. “This is such an extreme incident … could they reasonably expect he would get behind a vehicle and run people down on a parade route? What would have alerted you to the capacity he would have had for this kind of violence?”

Some Republicans were quick to jump on the case as an example of a broken legal system.

Republican Rebecca Kleefisch, a former Wisconsin lieutenant governor who is running for governor in 2022, called the killings “yet another avoidable tragedy that occurred because a violent career criminal was allowed to walk free and terrorize our community.”

And Republican state Rep. Cindi Duchow said she was reintroducing a constitutional amendment that would change the bail process in Wisconsin to allow judges to consider a defendant’s danger to the community when setting bail. Judges currently are only allowed to consider the possibility that defendants might not show up for a court appearance when setting bail.

“He tried to run over his girlfriend with his car — that’s attempted murder,” Duchow said. “If you’re a danger to society, you should have to work hard to get out.”

Thompson, the police chief, said that there was no evidence the bloodshed Sunday was a terrorist attack or that the suspect knew anyone in the parade. The man acted alone, the chief said.

The suspect had left the site of the domestic disturbance before officers arrived, and was not being chased by police at the time of the crash, according to the chief, who gave no further details on the dispute.

NBC News published doorbell camera footage that appeared to capture the man’s arrest. It showed him shivering in just a T-shirt, knocking on a homeowner’s door and asking for help calling for a ride. Moments later, police surrounded the house and shouted, “Hands up!” The man, standing on the porch, held up his hands and said, “Whoa whoa whoa!”

On Sunday, a joyous scene of marching bands and children dancing in Santa hats and waving pompoms gave way in an instant to screams and the sight of crumpled bodies as the SUV sped through barricades and struck dancers, musicians and others in the community of 72,000.

Police identified those killed as Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81. Sorenson, Owen and Durand were mem bers the Dancing Grannies club, and Hospel helped out with the group.

“It looked like dummies being thrown in the air,” said Nicole Schneiter, who was there with her children and grandchildren. “It took a second to register, like, ‘Is that what we really just saw?’ And then you looked in the road and there were just people laying in the road.”

At least nine patients, most of them children, were in critical condition Monday at two hospitals, and seven others were reported in serious condition.

Hundreds gathered at a downtown park Monday night in Waukesha, Wisconsin, for a candlelight vigil in honor of those lost and hurt in a deadly Christmas parade crash a day earlier. A pair of clergy solemnly read the names of those who died. Volunteers handed out sandwiches, hot chocolate, and candles at the vigil, which was attended by interfaith leaders and elected officials.

“We are parents. We are neighbors. We are hurting. We are angry. We are sad. We are confused. We are thankful. We are all in this together. We are Waukesha Strong,” said a tearful Amanda Medina Roddy with the Waukesha school district.

The chief said that police weren’t pursuing the suspect before he entered the parade route, but an officer did fire a shot to try to stop him. The officer stopped firing because of the danger to others. The man was not injured.

Mayor Shawn Reilly described the parade as a “Norman Rockwell-type” event that “became a nightmare.”

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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Condon reported from New York. Associated Press writers Kathleen Foody in Chicago, Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.

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Firefighters and forensic workers inspect the scene of a bus crash which, according to authorities, killed at least 45 people on a highway near the village of Bosnek, western Bulgaria, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. The bus, registered in Northern Macedonia, crashed around 2 a.m. and there were children among the victims, authorities said. | AP

The bus apparently ripped through a guardrail on a highway, though authorities said the cause was still under investigation.

SOFIA, Bulgaria — A bus carrying tourists back to North Macedonia crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria early Tuesday, killing at least 45 people, including a dozen children, authorities said.

The bus apparently ripped through a guardrail on a highway, though authorities said the cause was still under investigation. Photos taken shortly after the crash showed the vehicle engulfed in flames as plumes of thick, black smoke rose. Daylight revealed a burned-out shell with all of its windows blown out, sitting in the median. A portion of the guardrail was peeled away and lying in the road.

Seven survivors were taken to hospitals after the crash, which happened as a group of buses was returning from a trip to Turkey.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov told reporters at the crash site that he had “never in my life seen something more horrifying.”

“The people who were on the bus are turned to charcoal,” Rashkov said. “It is impossible to say how many they were. There were four buses that traveled together, and it is possible that passengers changed buses during the stops.”

But Borislav Sarafov, chief of Bulgaria’s national investigation service, confirmed a total of 52 people were on the bus.

Among the survivors, five are North Macedonia nationals, one is Serbian and another Belgian, according to the North Macedonia Foreign Ministry.

Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka, meanwhile, wrote online that almost all of the dead were ethnic Albanians — but it was not clear if they were also nationals of North Macedonia, which is home to a significant number of ethnic Albanians.

News of the crash hit hard in the small country of about 2 million people. The North Macedonia government observed a minute of silence Tuesday and declared three days of mourning. Flags will be lowered to half-staff, and all public events will be canceled. The country’s prime minister traveled to Bulgaria, as did its chief prosecutor, who visited the crash site. Several Bulgarian officials, including the caretaker prime minister, also went to the scene.

Twelve children were confirmed among the dead, according to the North Macedonia chief prosecutor, Ljubomir Joveski.

The country’s prime minister, Zoran Zaev, who visited survivors in the hospital, told Bulgarian television channel bTV that one said he was awoken by an explosion.

In the capital of Skopje, police and family members of gathered outside the offices of a travel company that is believed to have organized the trip. The office looked closed, with a grate pulled down over its door.

“Now, we are waiting for bad news,” Bekim Aliti, who was visibly distraught, told reporters outside the building. He said his wife and his brother’s wife were on the trip.

Eldin Shiroki said that his cousin works as a tour guide for the company. “We still don’t have any accurate information — so we are waiting,” he said.

In 2019, Bulgaria had the second-highest road fatality rate in the 27-nation European Union, with 89 people killed per million, according to European Commission data.

“Let’s hope we learn lessons from this tragic incident, and we can prevent such incidents in the future,” said Bulgarian Caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences to the families and friends of those who died and said that “in these terrible times, Europe stands in solidarity with you.”

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McGrath reported from Bucharest, Romania. Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, contributed.

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Matt Nagy reacts after a Ravens touchdown Sunday. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Cary-Grove High School principal has apologized after the school’s students started cheers calling for Bears coach Matt Nagy’s job during a football game against a Lake Forest High School team that featured Nagy’s son.

The Cary-Grove High School principal has apologized after the school’s students started cheers calling for Bears coach Matt Nagy’s job during a football game against a Lake Forest High School team that featured Nagy’s son.

Video surfaced of Saturday’s game in which the student section began cheering “Fire Nagy!” during the fourth quarter. Brayden Nagy is a junior on the LFHS team.

“I want to assure our community that the chant was not acceptable nor appropriate and was immediately addressed by administration at the game,” principal Neil Lesinski said in a latter to Cary-Grove families. “We also felt it was important to meet with our student superfans that lead our chants and cheers to talk about what happened and gie them an opportunity to reflect and correct their actions.”

Cary-Grove beat Lake Forest in the 6A semifinals, 40-7, to reach their sixth state finals in school history.

Nagy’s Bears are 3-7 entering Thursday’s game against the Lions.

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