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MIAMI — The Boston Celtics found themselves trailing the Miami Heat by five, on the road, at halftime of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

And yet, the Celtics felt just fine. They couldn’t have played much worse in the first half, committing 10 turnovers and giving up nine offensive rebounds to Miami — which allowed the Heat to take 14 extra shots.

“We weren’t playing our best, in a lot of ways,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “Sometimes, all it takes is one guy getting back to his average game.”

No one was playing worse than Jaylen Brown. He went 2-for-7 from the field and committed four turnovers — all in the first quarter.

Then the second half started. And, as it played out, Brown wound up being the face of the team’s turnaround.

Brown’s 19-point, 0-turnover second half — coupled with an 18-point second half from Jayson Tatum — allowed Boston to finally break open what was a rock fight in the first half, as the Celtics went on to win 93-80 over the Heat, moving Boston to within one more win of its first trip to the NBA Finals in 12 years.

“Same player,” Brown said from the first half to the second. “Just had to get settled in. That’s it. As the game wears on, some of that energy, some of that intensity starts to wear off, so the game opens up a little bit. The game opened up for me in the second half.

“I didn’t want to get down. I didn’t want to look into the past, think that this game was over. My team needed me to come out and respond.

“First half was s—. Threw it away. [Just] come out, play basketball in the second half.”

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It was unclear whether Boston was going to be able to actually follow through on Brown’s instructions after yet another ugly stretch of basketball in this series for the Celtics in the first half of Game 5. The difference from the other periods when Boston has gone off the rails in this series, however, is that the Celtics didn’t allow the Heat to break the game open.

Instead, things were just as ugly on Miami’s side of the ledger. While Tatum and Brown were combining to go 10-for-33 in the first half, and the Celtics were throwing the ball around, Miami couldn’t hit anything, either. Its starting backcourt of Kyle Lowry and Max Strus combined to go 0-for-15 from the field and 0-for-12 from 3-point range for the game. Jimmy Butler, playing through a knee issue, finished just 4-for-18. And, overall, the Heat finished a dismal 7-for-45 from 3-point range.

“You’ve got to enjoy this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You do. You know, if you want to break through and punch a ticket to the Finals, you’re going to have to do some ridiculously tough stuff. Getting on to Boston and figuring that out collectively, those are the emotions and the breakthroughs that you have that you remember the rest of your life. Bring this thing back on the 29th. That’s all we talked about in there.”

It was a game that, like the rest of this series, will never be called pretty. But, for the Celtics — a team that has built its remarkable midseason turnaround around a suffocating defense — it was the latest example of the physicality they have prided themselves on throughout the playoffs.

“I think the mental stress and strain we put on some teams with our defense has worked and carried us through the playoffs at times,” Udoka said. “You saw in the Brooklyn series, guys started to wear down. Game 7 [last round against the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis] Antetokounmpo slowed down some. But having all those bodies to continue to throw at people wears down on them physically and mentally, making it tough, as long as we don’t give them easy baskets in transition.

“With our guys, we’re always confident they’ll get it going and figure it out eventually.”

Brown and Tatum certainly did so in the second half. After those early struggles, Brown went the final three quarters without a turnover. And, in a game crying out for someone — anyone — to make a shot after that first-half brickfest on both sides, Brown stepped up to the plate in the second half.

He hit the last shot of the third quarter (a tough mid-range bucket) and the first of the fourth (a triple on the wing) to push Boston’s lead into double-digits for good. He made sure it stayed there by scoring 13 of his points in the fourth quarter on 5-for-6 shooting.

“Just guys getting settled in, kept being aggressive, stop turning the ball over,” Brown said. “We gave them a lot more shots than we had in the first half. We was only down by five. We knew if we took care of it, we would get some open opportunities and knock ’em down.

“So just continue to play basketball, be aggressive. That’s why basketball is 48 minutes.”

It was a similar turnaround for Tatum, who was repeatedly grabbing at his shoulder throughout the first half, as he was clearly laboring from the nerve issue that briefly knocked him out of the fourth quarter of Game 3.

But Tatum kept trying to make plays for others in the first half, and eventually finished the night with 22 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in over 44 minutes, as he — like Brown — eventually settled into a rhythm as the second half progressed.

“Yeah, it was bothering me,” Tatum said. “We just figured it out.

“Obviously, they’re a really good team. Both teams play hard, compete and things like that. But guys like [Derrick] White, obviously [Marcus] Smart being out there, just his presence, and JB made some big shots. Everybody contributed from the beginning till the end.”

Now, the series heads back to TD Garden, where Boston — in its sixth trip to the conference finals since last making the NBA Finals — will have a chance to finally take that final step into the league’s championship round.

But after a playoffs that have seen so many twists and turns already for the Celtics — including coming back from the exact same deficit the Heat find themselves in, down 3-2 on the road in Game 6, to beat the Bucks in the conference semifinals — Boston knows its job is not done yet.

“The mindset and the talk that we had after the game was we was down 3-2 last time, had to go on the road and win a Game 6, and we did,” Tatum said. “We can’t think that it’s over with. We need to go back home like we’re down 3-2, with that sense of urgency that it’s a must-win game, not relaxing because we’re up.

“It’s possible [for Miami to come back]. Obviously, we did it last series, so knowing that, talking about that, obviously enjoying this one, but not being satisfied knowing that we still got things to clean up, we still need to play better. The job’s just not finished yet.”

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This article was originally published on The TRiiBE, a digital media platform that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago. 

On Wednesday, the city council approved a plan to offer Chicago’s sole casino license to Bally’s Corporation, 41 – 7, with one recusal. 

Alderpersons Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), Anthony Beale (9th), Ed Burke (14th), Ray Lopez (15th), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), Brendan Reilly (42nd), and Michele Smith (43rd) voted against the proposal. Alderperson Sophia King (4th Ward) recused herself from the vote. 

The proposal will now go to the Illinois Gaming Board for approval. The state gaming board oversees gambling and gaming through oversight of riverboat and casino gambling, and sports wagering.

If the proposal is approved across the board, the new casino-resort and entertainment complex will be constructed at the Chicago Tribune’s Publishing Center, located at 560 W. Grand near North Halsted Street and West Chicago Avenue in the River West neighborhood. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025. In the meantime, Bally’s plans to operate a temporary casino at Medinah Temple in the neighboring River North neighborhood.

The $1.7 billion casino proposal includes a 3,000-seat theater, a 500-room luxury hotel that would open with 100 rooms, a Riverwalk extension, a pedestrian bridge, an outdoor park, an outdoor music venue, an amenity terrace featuring a large pool spa, fitness center, a sun deck, a food hall, cafes, and six restaurants. It will also offer space for 3,400 slot machines and 170 gaming tables.

The project is expected to generate 3,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent casino jobs, and bring in $400 million a year in gaming and other revenues for the city and state. 

Lightfoot asked for up to $75 million for the city from casino bidders. Bally agreed to give the city $40 million upfront and $4 million annually for the Host City Agreement.

“A city casino signals to the world that our economy is on a strong path toward recovery, ready to develop new and lucrative projects that will benefit all of our residents,” Lightfoot said during Thursday’s press conference. “It would serve as a catalyst for additional large-scale economic developments that would only accelerate our city’s post-pandemic recovery.”

The casino would allow the city to capitalize on gaming and other revenues to provide new funding sources for Chicago police and fire pension funds, she added. 

Bally’s Casino will “capture the gaming revenue that has been lost for far too long to neighboring jurisdictions,” Lightfoot continued. Illinois is already home to eight casinos, including the Rivers Casino Des Plaines.

The press conference brimmed with excitement from lawmakers and stakeholders for the possibility of a casino coming to Chicago. It’s an idea that’s been 30 years in the making, beginning with then-mayor Richard M. Daley’s creation of the Chicago Casino Commission in April 1992. 

The casino’s proposed site is a stone’s throw away from the former Cabrini-Green Homes public housing projects. At its peak, the complex known for its high-rise buildings was home to at least 15,000 people, predominantly Black and low-income families. 

In 1999, Daley announced his intention to tear down the high-rise towers. The city pledged to spend more than $1.5 billion over ten years to demolish 18,000 apartments and build or rehabilitate 25,000 apartments. Despite this pledge, it’s impossible to forget the thousands of Black people displaced from the area that, when they lived there, craved the type of financial investment and opportunity that a new casino would bring.

Today, after the majority of Black residents have been forced out of Cabrini-Green, the neighborhood looks radically different. It’s now scattered with luxury apartments, townhomes, and condos. In the midst of its gentrification, what remains of the legacy of Black people and the housing projects are the two-story row houses hidden just north behind Chicago Avenue, and the Wayman AME church building. The latter was listed for sale as of October 2021, despite its historic roots in the community.

At Thursday’s press conference, Alderperson Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th Ward) spoke about his upbringing in Cabrini-Green. He grew up in the row houses on North Cambridge Avenue, about a mile north of the proposed casino site.

Burnett supports Lightfoot’s casino choice, which would place the new development in his ward. For him, Bally’s casino means progress. 

“I wasn’t afraid of progress. I wasn’t afraid of prosperity when we had to tear down the former Cabrini-Green high-rises. I wasn’t afraid,” Burnett said. 

The undertones of Burnett’s comments today made it seem like the neighborhood’s previous residents weren’t worthy of the same investment as its successors or that it was OK to displace people because it brought us to the progress we’re seeing today. He acknowledged that the people who live in the community today would not have come to the area when the Cabrini-Green high-rises were still there. 

“We helped all of them to prosper in that community and be able to live in the luxuries that they live in now, and that’s because we weren’t afraid because we felt like we needed to do what’s right and help people progress and have a better place to live,” Burnett continued.

Throughout the casino bidding process, the city required that bidders have minority involvement. For example, the city required that casino bidders include 26 percent minority business enterprise participation, 6 percent women business participation, and businesses from Chicago included in the design and construction of the project.

However, Burnett’s comments about Cabrini-Green call that into question. City lawmakers have been making promises to former Cabrini-Green residents for years, and many of those promises never came to fruition. Will it maintain its new promises to minorities and women now?

Following the displacement of thousands of Black Cabrini-Green residents, Daley also promised 2,500 construction jobs and told them they’d be able to return. 

A 2021 Better Government Association (BGA) investigation found that of the 2,500 construction jobs Daley promised to Cabrini-Green residents, only 40 people received jobs. Additionally, more than 80 percent of the families who were promised they could return did not because they could no longer afford to live in the neighborhood, “were disqualified, relocated, or were simply overwhelmed with bureaucracy and many died waiting,” according to the BGA’s investigation.

With Black displacement in Cabrini-Green came a sudden overflow of financial investment and new developments that weren’t made available to its previous residents. It’s hard to separate today’s casino announcement from Cabrini-Green’s legacy and what’s to come with Bally’s casino that was made possible at the expense of displacing Black people. 

Out of the three casino bids up for consideration, including Rivers 78 and One Central, Lightfoot said she selected Bally’s proposal over the others because of its commitment to meeting equity goals outlined by the casino selection committee. Bally’s is also one of the only operators that did not have a competing casino in the Chicagoland region. She said that Bally’s also has a labor peace agreement with organized labor.

In addition, the forthcoming casino will commit to 60 percent minority hiring and will create a jobs program that targets neighborhoods with the highest levels of unemployment and lowest income.

Burnett also pointed out that having the Bally’s would increase revenue in the city and drive in more visitors. “It would be a disservice for us as [the] government who have a fiscal responsibility to our citizens not to allow this casino to be built in our city,” he said. 

However, Burnett added that it would be irresponsible for the city not to take advantage of the opportunity. “Who wants to pay more property taxes,” he asked. “I know I don’t.” 

“We believe that Bally’s is ready to bet on Chicago. We think this is a wonderful way for Chicago to continue its recovery from COVID-19,” said Soo Kim, chairman of Bally’s Corporation board of directors. 

Kim added that the project is for underrepresented groups of people that capitalism left behind. This project, he added, will include them. 
Additionally, he said that the project would keep property taxes low. 

“We understand how important it is for the other laborers here to work together, build this casino, operate this casino together, and what an opportunity it is for them,” Kim said. “We understand how for all underrepresented groups that in some ways capitalism has left behind, that this is a project that will include them and that it will allow them to be a part of ownership, management, and operations. We understand all of the promises that this casino allows the city of Chicago to keep and the state of Illinois to keep. We accept and bear those responsibilities.”

According to N’Digo, a Black newsmagazine based in Chicago, Bally’s was criticized for how it initially structured minority investment, claiming that after six years, investors could sell their shares. 

That has since changed. According to N’Digo, minority investors now can hold onto their investment or sell their ownership position back to Bally’s. The project promises that at least 20 percent of ownership will be women and minorities.

On Monday, May 9, a special committee convened to ask Bally’s questions about its plan, and on Thursday, May 12, the city hosted a community engagement event at UIC. On Monday, a city council committee voted to send the plan to the full council, and on May 25, the council approved the plan. 

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This article was originally published on The TRiiBE, a digital media platform that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago. 

On Wednesday, the city council approved a plan to offer Chicago’s sole casino license to Bally’s Corporation, 41 – 7, with one recusal. 

Alderpersons Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), Anthony Beale (9th), Ed Burke (14th), Ray Lopez (15th), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), Brendan Reilly (42nd), and Michele Smith (43rd) voted against the proposal. Alderperson Sophia King (4th Ward) recused herself from the vote. 

The proposal will now go to the Illinois Gaming Board for approval. The state gaming board oversees gambling and gaming through oversight of riverboat and casino gambling, and sports wagering.

If the proposal is approved across the board, the new casino-resort and entertainment complex will be constructed at the Chicago Tribune’s Publishing Center, located at 560 W. Grand near North Halsted Street and West Chicago Avenue in the River West neighborhood. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025. In the meantime, Bally’s plans to operate a temporary casino at Medinah Temple in the neighboring River North neighborhood.

The $1.7 billion casino proposal includes a 3,000-seat theater, a 500-room luxury hotel that would open with 100 rooms, a Riverwalk extension, a pedestrian bridge, an outdoor park, an outdoor music venue, an amenity terrace featuring a large pool spa, fitness center, a sun deck, a food hall, cafes, and six restaurants. It will also offer space for 3,400 slot machines and 170 gaming tables.

The project is expected to generate 3,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent casino jobs, and bring in $400 million a year in gaming and other revenues for the city and state. 

Lightfoot asked for up to $75 million for the city from casino bidders. Bally agreed to give the city $40 million upfront and $4 million annually for the Host City Agreement.

“A city casino signals to the world that our economy is on a strong path toward recovery, ready to develop new and lucrative projects that will benefit all of our residents,” Lightfoot said during Thursday’s press conference. “It would serve as a catalyst for additional large-scale economic developments that would only accelerate our city’s post-pandemic recovery.”

The casino would allow the city to capitalize on gaming and other revenues to provide new funding sources for Chicago police and fire pension funds, she added. 

Bally’s Casino will “capture the gaming revenue that has been lost for far too long to neighboring jurisdictions,” Lightfoot continued. Illinois is already home to eight casinos, including the Rivers Casino Des Plaines.

The press conference brimmed with excitement from lawmakers and stakeholders for the possibility of a casino coming to Chicago. It’s an idea that’s been 30 years in the making, beginning with then-mayor Richard M. Daley’s creation of the Chicago Casino Commission in April 1992. 

The casino’s proposed site is a stone’s throw away from the former Cabrini-Green Homes public housing projects. At its peak, the complex known for its high-rise buildings was home to at least 15,000 people, predominantly Black and low-income families. 

In 1999, Daley announced his intention to tear down the high-rise towers. The city pledged to spend more than $1.5 billion over ten years to demolish 18,000 apartments and build or rehabilitate 25,000 apartments. Despite this pledge, it’s impossible to forget the thousands of Black people displaced from the area that, when they lived there, craved the type of financial investment and opportunity that a new casino would bring.

Today, after the majority of Black residents have been forced out of Cabrini-Green, the neighborhood looks radically different. It’s now scattered with luxury apartments, townhomes, and condos. In the midst of its gentrification, what remains of the legacy of Black people and the housing projects are the two-story row houses hidden just north behind Chicago Avenue, and the Wayman AME church building. The latter was listed for sale as of October 2021, despite its historic roots in the community.

At Thursday’s press conference, Alderperson Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th Ward) spoke about his upbringing in Cabrini-Green. He grew up in the row houses on North Cambridge Avenue, about a mile north of the proposed casino site.

Burnett supports Lightfoot’s casino choice, which would place the new development in his ward. For him, Bally’s casino means progress. 

“I wasn’t afraid of progress. I wasn’t afraid of prosperity when we had to tear down the former Cabrini-Green high-rises. I wasn’t afraid,” Burnett said. 

The undertones of Burnett’s comments today made it seem like the neighborhood’s previous residents weren’t worthy of the same investment as its successors or that it was OK to displace people because it brought us to the progress we’re seeing today. He acknowledged that the people who live in the community today would not have come to the area when the Cabrini-Green high-rises were still there. 

“We helped all of them to prosper in that community and be able to live in the luxuries that they live in now, and that’s because we weren’t afraid because we felt like we needed to do what’s right and help people progress and have a better place to live,” Burnett continued.

Throughout the casino bidding process, the city required that bidders have minority involvement. For example, the city required that casino bidders include 26 percent minority business enterprise participation, 6 percent women business participation, and businesses from Chicago included in the design and construction of the project.

However, Burnett’s comments about Cabrini-Green call that into question. City lawmakers have been making promises to former Cabrini-Green residents for years, and many of those promises never came to fruition. Will it maintain its new promises to minorities and women now?

Following the displacement of thousands of Black Cabrini-Green residents, Daley also promised 2,500 construction jobs and told them they’d be able to return. 

A 2021 Better Government Association (BGA) investigation found that of the 2,500 construction jobs Daley promised to Cabrini-Green residents, only 40 people received jobs. Additionally, more than 80 percent of the families who were promised they could return did not because they could no longer afford to live in the neighborhood, “were disqualified, relocated, or were simply overwhelmed with bureaucracy and many died waiting,” according to the BGA’s investigation.

With Black displacement in Cabrini-Green came a sudden overflow of financial investment and new developments that weren’t made available to its previous residents. It’s hard to separate today’s casino announcement from Cabrini-Green’s legacy and what’s to come with Bally’s casino that was made possible at the expense of displacing Black people. 

Out of the three casino bids up for consideration, including Rivers 78 and One Central, Lightfoot said she selected Bally’s proposal over the others because of its commitment to meeting equity goals outlined by the casino selection committee. Bally’s is also one of the only operators that did not have a competing casino in the Chicagoland region. She said that Bally’s also has a labor peace agreement with organized labor.

In addition, the forthcoming casino will commit to 60 percent minority hiring and will create a jobs program that targets neighborhoods with the highest levels of unemployment and lowest income.

Burnett also pointed out that having the Bally’s would increase revenue in the city and drive in more visitors. “It would be a disservice for us as [the] government who have a fiscal responsibility to our citizens not to allow this casino to be built in our city,” he said. 

However, Burnett added that it would be irresponsible for the city not to take advantage of the opportunity. “Who wants to pay more property taxes,” he asked. “I know I don’t.” 

“We believe that Bally’s is ready to bet on Chicago. We think this is a wonderful way for Chicago to continue its recovery from COVID-19,” said Soo Kim, chairman of Bally’s Corporation board of directors. 

Kim added that the project is for underrepresented groups of people that capitalism left behind. This project, he added, will include them. 
Additionally, he said that the project would keep property taxes low. 

“We understand how important it is for the other laborers here to work together, build this casino, operate this casino together, and what an opportunity it is for them,” Kim said. “We understand how for all underrepresented groups that in some ways capitalism has left behind, that this is a project that will include them and that it will allow them to be a part of ownership, management, and operations. We understand all of the promises that this casino allows the city of Chicago to keep and the state of Illinois to keep. We accept and bear those responsibilities.”

According to N’Digo, a Black newsmagazine based in Chicago, Bally’s was criticized for how it initially structured minority investment, claiming that after six years, investors could sell their shares. 

That has since changed. According to N’Digo, minority investors now can hold onto their investment or sell their ownership position back to Bally’s. The project promises that at least 20 percent of ownership will be women and minorities.

On Monday, May 9, a special committee convened to ask Bally’s questions about its plan, and on Thursday, May 12, the city hosted a community engagement event at UIC. On Monday, a city council committee voted to send the plan to the full council, and on May 25, the council approved the plan. 

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At the end of April, The Curio and the Chicago Fashion Coalition joined forces to promote a networking event for the local fashion crowd at Chop Shop in Wicker Park. The turnout was truly impressive; so many recognizable names in the fashion scene were there: accessory designer and SAIC faculty member Gillion Carrara; luxury boutique owner Robin Richman; the Chicago Fashion Incubator executive director Anna Hovet Dias; entrepreneur Amanda Harth; and on and on and on. The party room was packed, the music was blasting, and the spirits were high. There was an obvious post-COVID excitement in the air, filled with hope, plans, and plenty of number exchanges. 

The main orchestrator of the gathering was New York transplant Ian Gerard, the co-founder and principal of The Curio. According to Gerard, the goal of his recently launched enterprise is to “bring people together around their passions for fashion, art, film, food, and music.” “We are starting by showcasing the best Chicago fashion talent for both Chicagoans and for a national consumer audience, as well as elevating the Chicago fashion community in the eyes of the city and nation. We are working in collaboration with most existing Chicago fashion organizations, and hopefully soon [local officials themselves], to successfully achieve this,” explains Gerard, who intends to throw a large-scale fashion show this fall. 

The Curio
curioexperience.com and Instagram
Chicago Fashion Coalition
chicagofashioncoalition.org and Instagram

Christopher Reavley Credit: Isa Giallorenzo

With so many guests dressed to impress, two young fashion designers stood out thanks to their dashing style topped off by colorful wide-brimmed hats: Estefania Galvan, 28, and Christopher Reavley, 27. Galvan is a petite powerhouse hailing from Colombia, whose brand MŌS she accurately describes as “elegant but never boring.” Her clothes have a classic and tailored feel, but always with a fun extra detail—such as the printed lining of her jacket, or her versatile trousers with an optional fastening at the hem. Reavley is a precocious talent who started sewing in his mid-teens, when he was given a sewing machine by one of his father’s employees. “I flew off from there, self-taught,” he says. Six years ago he started his own line—CR Collection—and now designs for a glitzy clientele from Chicago and New York.

Both designers will be showcasing their collections next month. Galvan will be celebrating the first anniversary of her brand with Garden of the Elements, which she calls “a multi-sensorial immersive fashion show.” The event, scheduled for June 25, will feature not only her creations, but also mixed media arts, live music and performances, augmented reality, and more. As for Reavley, his annual fashion show (this year titled “The Art of Wealth”) is scheduled for June and will feature 30 pieces in which, according to him, “classy meets edgy.” Reavley’s customized tuxedo jacket, with ripped sleeves and a rhinestone Chanel brooch on the lapel, says it all.

MŌS presents Garden of the Elements, Sat 6/25, 8 PM, 1010 W. 35th, Suite 500, $35-$120, tickets and more information at themosbrand.com and Instagram
CR Collection presents The Art of Wealth, Fri 6/17, 6 PM, Chicago Hotel Collection, 166 E. Superior, $60-$105, tickets at rebelity.com, more information at christopherreavley.com and Instagram

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