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Klay Thompson returned after 941 days away from the court. The Golden State Warriors Splash Brother, who hadn’t played in an NBA game since the 2019 Finals due to ACL and Achilles injuries, made his much-anticipated season debut with 17 points in 20 minutes during the Warriors’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

How dangerous are the Warriors now, as the co-owners of the league’s best record and bona fide title contenders return another offensive weapon?

Meanwhile, outside of San Francisco, the Memphis Grizzlies own the league’s longest active win streak. The Grizzlies’ run now sits at nine games thanks to a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, which included this epic block by Ja Morant.

In the East, the conference-leading Bulls saw their nine-game winning streak snapped Sunday to the Dallas Mavericks. The longest active streaks in the conference now belong to the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors, who each take a six-game run into the week.

See where all 30 teams stand now.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (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.

1. Golden State Warriors
2021-22 record: 30-9
Previous ranking: 1

After two and a half years, Klay Thompson is back. The former All-Star provided exactly the kind of jolt Steve Kerr & Co. were hoping to see in his return game Sunday night, scoring 17 points in 20 minutes in a win over the Cavs. The Warriors have to hope the good vibes can keep rolling this week during a tough four-game road stretch that includes games against the Grizzlies, Bucks and Bulls. — Friedell

2. Phoenix Suns
2021-22 record: 30-9
Previous ranking: 2

Since his return from a hamstring injury on Dec. 19, Devin Booker‘s field goal percentage has taken a dip. He’s shooting 40.8% overall in his past 11 games, but his 3-point percentage has gone up in that time. He was shooting 40.3% in his first 21 games and he’s up to 42.0% in his past 11. His 41.0% overall mark for the season would be a career high, besting his mark of 38.3% from 2017-18 and a big jump from the 34.0% he shot from deep last season. — Lopez

3. Chicago Bulls
2021-22 record: 26-11
Previous ranking: 3

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The Bulls lost for the first time since Dec. 11 on Sunday night, snapping their nine-game streak. They are about to be tested this week, when they host two of the top teams in the NBA: First up is a matchup with the Nets on Wednesday night followed by a meeting with the Warriors on Friday. The Bulls are 2-0 against Brooklyn this season, but dropped their lone meeting with Golden State earlier in the season. — Collier

4. Utah Jazz
2021-22 record: 28-12
Previous ranking: 4

The Jazz had been the only team in the league that hadn’t been hit by COVID-19 this season, but Utah is in the midst of an outbreak with four players currently in health and safety protocols, including perennial All-Star center Rudy Gobert. Hassan Whiteside has thrived as Gobert’s backup, but the Jazz are 0-2 with Whiteside in the starting lineup, and Saturday’s loss in Indiana was an especially disappointing defensive performance. — MacMahon

5. Memphis Grizzlies
2021-22 record: 28-14
Previous ranking: 8

Nobody has played better than the Grizzlies over the past six weeks. Memphis has won 19 of 23, racking up the most wins in the league during that stretch, and has a net rating (plus-13.1) that is almost four points better than that of any other team. For all the flash of Ja Morant‘s many high-flying highlights, the foundation of the Grizzlies’ success has been the NBA’s stingiest defense in that six-week span (101.8 points per 100 possessions). — MacMahon

6. Milwaukee Bucks
2021-22 record: 26-16
Previous ranking: 5

If Milwaukee’s path back to the NBA Finals is likely to include another series with the Brooklyn Nets, then the Bucks have to be encouraged by their first two meetings this season. The Bucks are 2-0 against the Nets, with victories on opening night in Milwaukee and last week in Brooklyn. Winning by an average of 18 points per game is a reminder that the path to winning the Eastern Conference still goes through them. — Collier

7. Miami Heat
2021-22 record: 25-15
Previous ranking: 7

Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson combined for 60 points in Saturday’s win over the Suns, as Miami rattled off its second straight win to cap its West Coast swing. With Jimmy Butler still dealing with an ankle injury, the Heat have a nice break until Wednesday’s game against the Hawks to get in some rest and rehab. — Friedell

8. Brooklyn Nets
2021-22 record: 25-13
Previous ranking: 6

Brooklyn may have Kyrie Irving back, but something’s not right with the Nets. They’ve lost four of their past six, with only a big fourth-quarter comeback against Indiana and a near collapse against San Antonio separating them from a six-game losing streak. There’s obviously plenty of time to get it right, but this is not the version of the Nets the world expected to see this season. — Bontemps

9. Philadelphia 76ers
2021-22 record: 22-16
Previous ranking: 9

Philadelphia is 19-8 with Joel Embiid in the lineup this season, and 3-8 without him. With a month to go until the trade deadline, the question remains for the 76ers: Will Ben Simmons be traded by the deadline, giving Embiid some reinforcements for the stretch run and the playoffs, or will this saga drag on until the summer? — Bontemps

10. Dallas Mavericks
2021-22 record: 22-18
Previous ranking: 16

The Mavs’ season-best six-game win streak features convincing victories over the Warriors and Bulls. Dallas has held five of its six opponents under 100 points during the streak, when the Mavs are allowing only 93.0 points per game. Dallas has jumped to fifth in the league in defensive efficiency (107.1). — MacMahon

11. Cleveland Cavaliers
2021-22 record: 22-18
Previous ranking: 10

Cleveland lost for the fifth time in its past seven games in Klay Thompson’s return game for the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. New Cavs guard Rajon Rondo has made an immediate impact, however, averaging 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in his first two games with the franchise. — McMenamin

12. Denver Nuggets
2021-22 record: 20-18
Previous ranking: 11

The Nuggets won on Sunday for the fifth time in seven games, and Nikola Jokic continues his MVP tear. He has averaged 25.7 points and 16.7 rebounds in those seven games, despite defenses throwing everything they can at the MVP. The Nuggets are trading Bol Bol to Detroit for Rodney McGruder and could sign DeMarcus Cousins to a 10-day soon to try to give Jokic a little more help. Denver’s next six games are against the Clippers twice, Blazers, Lakers, Jazz and Grizzlies, so they could learn more about where they stand in the West during this stretch. — Youngmisuk

13. Los Angeles Lakers
2021-22 record: 21-20
Previous ranking: 14

Wednesday, Jan. 12
Mavs at Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
Nets at Bulls, 10 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 14
Warriors at Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Mavs at Grizzlies, 10 p.m.

All times Eastern

The Lakers won four in a row against four teams that are a combined 24 games under .500, then fell down by as many as 29 in Sunday’s loss to a Grizzlies team that’s 14 games over .500. With L.A. set to play a back-loaded schedule full of similarly tough opponents, Russell Westbrook was asked what the Lakers have to do to compete in those games. “I don’t have the answer to that one,” he said. — McMenamin

14. Toronto Raptors
2021-22 record: 20-17
Previous ranking: 18

That the Raptors, winners of six straight, are now three games over .500 when their best three players — Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam — have played only nine games together is a sign of their upside if they can keep their team healthy over the second half of the season. — Bontemps

15. Charlotte Hornets
2021-22 record: 21-19
Previous ranking: 13

Charlotte continues to prove that it can score with anybody — as evidenced by the 254 combined points scored in two straight wins over the Pistons and Bucks. In those wins, Terry Rozier tallied 44 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. The larger issue for the Hornets remains the same: Can they defend at a high enough level? Over their first four games this month, the group has given up an average of 118.5 points per game. — Friedell

16. Minnesota Timberwolves
2021-22 record: 20-20
Previous ranking: 19

Although Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell has posted a career-low shooting percentage from the field (39.3) and is shooting several points below his career average from 3 (33.7% compared to 35.8% in his career), Minnesota has undoubtedly benefited from having him on the floor this season, outscoring opponents by 16.7 points per 100 possessions with Russell on the floor. The Timberwolves are 17-12 when he plays and 2-8 this season when he sits. — Collier

17. LA Clippers
2021-22 record: 20-21
Previous ranking: 12

The Clippers spoiled Lou Williams‘ return and got a much-needed victory over the Hawks on Sunday. It halted some of the bleeding from a stretch in which the Clippers lost nine of 12 games. The Clippers are slowly getting some bodies back. Besides getting Tyronn Lue back on the bench from health and safety protocols last week, Ivica Zubac was cleared from protocols, while Nicolas Batum also was able to make his way back from injury. But with Paul George (elbow), Luke Kennard (protocols) and Isaiah Hartenstein (ankle) still out, Lue has his work cut out to keep the Clippers from sinking further out of the playoff race. — Youngmisuk

18. Washington Wizards
2021-22 record: 20-20
Previous ranking: 15

Washington continues to play .500 ball, but reinforcements are here. Rui Hachimura is finally back after missing nearly half the season due to personal reasons. Montrezl Harrell is out of health and safety protocols and Thomas Bryant is nearing a return. Kyle Kuzma also is playing some of the best basketball of his career, fresh off a 27-point, 22-rebound effort to help Washington win at Orlando. At 20-20, Washington hovers around a playoff spot (ninth in the East). — Youngmisuk

19. Boston Celtics
2021-22 record: 19-21
Previous ranking: 17

Boston continues to underwhelm and has been unable to get its offense going consistently no matter what combination of players has been available this season. One possible sign for optimism, however, is that the team has its core healthy for an extended stretch for the first time this season. — Bontemps

20. New York Knicks
2021-22 record: 19-21
Previous ranking: 21

New York has managed to go 7-5 in its past 12 games despite a rash of COVID-19 cases and injuries, including missing Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose for Saturday’s loss in Boston. For the Knicks to take any further steps forward, however, they’ll need RJ Barrett and Julius Randle to start shooting closer to what they did last season, when they were over 40% from 3-point range, as opposed to the low 30s they find themselves at this season. — Bontemps

21. Atlanta Hawks
2021-22 record: 17-22
Previous ranking: 20

On Jan. 3, Trae Young had 56 points and 14 assists in a loss to the Trail Blazers. His 14 assists were the most in any 55-plus-point game in NBA history. He also became the third-youngest player in NBA history (23 years, 106 days) to have a 50-point, 10-assist game, behind Kevin Porter (20 years, 360 days in 2001) and LeBron James (23 years, 66 days in 2008). — Lopez

22. San Antonio Spurs
2021-22 record: 15-24
Previous ranking: 22

Dejounte Murray missed five games for San Antonio due to the league’s health and safety protocols and reconditioning. As soon as he was back in the starting lineup, the Spurs snapped a four-game losing streak. In three games since his return, Murray is averaging 22.7 points, 11 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game. — Lopez

23. Sacramento Kings
2021-22 record: 16-26
Previous ranking: 23

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Sacramento dropped its fourth straight to fall 10 games below .500, getting blown out by Portland on Sunday. The Kings were 6-11 when head coach Luke Walton was fired and have gone 10-15 since. — McMenamin

24. Indiana Pacers
2021-22 record: 15-25
Previous ranking: 24

Lance Stephenson had a triumphant return to Indiana this week in his third career stint with the Pacers and first games with the franchise since 2018. In four games, he averaged 14.3 points and six assists on 55.8% shooting, including a 30-point game off the bench on Wednesday against Brooklyn, helping inject some life into Pacers fans with whom he long ago formed a special connection. — Collier

25. Portland Trail Blazers
2021-22 record: 15-24
Previous ranking: 25

Already without Damian Lillard (abdomen) and CJ McCollum, the Blazers lost Norman Powell to health and safety protocols. But Anfernee Simons scored 31 points to help Portland beat Sacramento and at least give the Blazers something to feel good about. Portland entered Sunday having lost 16 of its previous 21 games. After a home game against the Nets and a fresh Kyrie Irving, the Blazers hit the road for six straight. It will continue to be the Simons show if Lillard and McCollum don’t return anytime soon. — Youngmisuk

26. New Orleans Pelicans
2021-22 record: 14-25
Previous ranking: 26

Josh Hart has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games, the longest streak of his career. His previous high was nine, when he was with the Lakers, and his previous best with New Orleans was just four games. In those 12 games, Hart is averaging 15.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 55.4% from the field and 35.6% from deep. — Lopez

27. Oklahoma City Thunder
2021-22 record: 13-26
Previous ranking: 27

The Thunder are 0-for-2022, losing all four games in January, but rookie Josh Giddey has been quite a bright spot. Giddey is averaging 12.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists during the four-game losing streak. For the season, the teenager leads all rookies in assists (6.4 per game), is third in rebounds (7.5) and is eighth in scoring (11.1). — MacMahon

28. Houston Rockets
2021-22 record: 11-30
Previous ranking: 28

The Rockets are 3-14 since their stunning seven-game winning streak was snapped. Houston’s defense has been especially horrific during that span, as the Rockets have allowed 122.8 points per 100 possessions, the primary reason that 11 of the 14 losses have been by double-digit margins. — MacMahon

29. Detroit Pistons
2021-22 record: 8-30
Previous ranking: 30

A roller-coaster week for the Pistons began with an upset victory over the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, back-to-back blowout losses to Charlotte and Memphis by a combined 59 points, and a victory over the Magic in a matchup of the league’s two worst teams. — Collier

30. Orlando Magic
2021-22 record: 7-34
Previous ranking: 29

Orlando has lost nine in a row and is struggling to find any rhythm at all. A small bright spot? Gary Harris is averaging 20 points per game over his first five contests of 2022. — Friedell

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When coaches who flamed out elsewhere keep getting in the mix for open jobs, they’re often dismissed as “retreads.” But several candidates in that category this year were big hits last time they got a chance.

Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn all had winning records and went to a Super Bowl — Pederson winning one in his second season.

The Bears were expected to interview Pederson on Wednesday and put in a request for Quinn, whose team is in the playoffs. They haven’t been linked to Harbaugh, but it’d be logical to at least inquire about their former quarterback given his success at every stop.

Pederson, 53, has already interviewed for the Jaguars opening and is expected to meet with the Vikings and Broncos. That puts him in play for more than half of the seven openings, and there’s still time for the Dolphins, Giants or Raiders to call.

Pederson guided the Eagles to 13-3 in his second season despite losing Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz late in the season. He tailored the offense on the fly to fit backup Nick Foles, and the rest is one of the greatest stories in sports history. Foles, a journeyman, romped through the playoffs and outdueled Tom Brady for the championship.

Pederson made the playoffs three times in five seasons and was fired after going 4-11-1 in 2020. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie admitted Pederson, “did not deserve to be let go,” but the team felt a different coach was necessary for its future.

Pederson said in June he was eager for another head-coaching job, and former Bears coach Matt Nagy hosted him in training camp.

That’s one of the biggest reservations about Pederson. He’s another branch from the Andy Reid coaching tree, and the Bears just flopped miserably with Nagy trying to run a version of that offense.

The Falcons fired Quinn, 51, after an 0-5 start in his sixth season, but before that he went 43-37, 3-2 in the playoffs and won the NFC in 2016 — the season in which his team was humiliated by blowing a 28-3 lead in the third quarter and losing to the Patriots in overtime.

Like Nagy’s falling out with the Bears, Quinn’s undoing was his inability to deliver the very expertise the Falcons coveted when they hired him. The Falcons had a top-10 scoring defense just once under his watch and were bottom-10 three times.

Harbaugh, 58, has a potentially problematic personality and might be best suited to stay where he is and maintain total control over Michigan’s program. But his results make him tempting.

He inherited a team that had a .359 winning percentage over the previous eight seasons and immediately started posting double-digit win totals.

Harbaugh went 36-11-1 over his first three seasons, taking the 49ers to an NFC title game in the 2011 season and the Super Bowl a year later. He deftly navigated a quarterback change from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick. His worst season was 8-8 in 2014, when both sides decided it was best to separate.

While of those three candidates would be recycled as they eye their second NFL head-coaching job, all were successes in their first shot at it and would be a clear upgrade for the Bears over Nagy.

In addition to Pederson and Quinn, a variety of reports Bears have set to schedule meetings with at least seven other candidates, including newly fired Dolphins coach Brian Flores, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and both coordinators from the defending champion Buccaneers — Byron Leftwich on offense and Todd Bowles on defense.

Pederson’s interviews and any others scheduled soon will take place without a general manager in place. The Bears requested permission to interview Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan and Patriots senior consultant Eliot Wolf on Wednesday and have at least six other candidates on their list.

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Andrew Shaw will make his last first stride onto United Center ice Thursday.

The fan favorite and permanently one-of-a-kind Blackhawk will be honored pregame before the Hawks face the Canadiens, his other former team.

Eleven months since his last game and nine months since he announced his unofficial retirement due to repeated concussions, the ceremony will finally give Chicagoans an opportunity to send him into his post-hockey life in style: with a roar. And he already knows that sound will unleash a flood of nostalgia.

“I’m sure it’ll be a rollercoaster of emotions: excitement, happiness, even a little sadness,” Shaw said Wednesday. “You get 10 great years out of hockey, playing in the NHL for two great organizations, winning two Stanley cups. Not it all being taken from you, but not being able to do that [anymore], it’ll be emotional. But I look forward to it.”

Shaw, now 30, has spent the past year almost exclusively with his family — particularly his 3-year-old daughter Andy and soon-to-be 2-year-old son, Dax — back home in Belleville, Ontario.

He’s a family man now. He hasn’t pursued an off-ice hockey job in coaching, scouting or managing — a career path he sounded interested in on his retirement day last April — because he doesn’t want to “drag them around from city to city.” Instead, he has taken up cooking, smoking meats and vegetables and “trying new things here and there.”

“Just to be there to experience [my kids’] firsts for everything is very special,” he said. “I love it. I enjoy making them smile, laugh, play and just teaching them life skills.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t miss hockey, because he does. He has helped mentor a few young players around Belleville but yearns to resume playing himself. His 544-game career was satisfying for its achievements but unsatisfying in its length.

Indeed, if not for Shaw’s infectiously positive outward persona, which tends to create a glossy mirage of carefreeness wherever he goes, the way repeated concussions so prematurely derailed his career might be seen as one of the greater tragedies in recent Hawks history.

“It’s obviously sad,” Patrick Kane said. “But at the same time, you’re happy for him — [and] happy for his family — that he’s able to stop playing a game and make that hard decision and hopefully have a better life for it.”

Shaw said he feels “great” physically — he still works out five days per week — but only “pretty good” mentally, implying his brain still hasn’t fully recovered from its decade of trauma. He thanked the Hawks medical staff for continuing to give him “everything that I need to get better,” but his mental recovery could be a lifelong process.

It’s easier and more appealing for him to think about all the good times, though — about antics with teammates, and iconic goals and fights during playoff runs, and the sense of fulfillment every time he met an adoring fan and brought “some sort of joy to their life.” Thursday should provide a fitting final reminder of what all of that felt like.

And just as reminiscing on his prime years brings Shaw’s signature grin back to his face, so it does for Kane, too.

“The best thing about him was he never really changed from the moment he came into the locker room [as a rookie],” Kane said. “He was always having fun, excited to be around the guys, excited to be playing hockey. He was just always that young, energetic kid.”

Notes: Top Hawks prospect Lukas Reichel is expected to make his much-anticipated NHL debut Thursday after Shaw’s ceremony. Reichel was called up to the taxi squad Wednesday and centered the first line between Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome in practice.

Erik Gustafsson was removed from COVID-19 protocol Wednesday, reducing the Hawks’ COVID list to four players and two staff members.
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The Joffrey Ballet and Court Theatre are postponing two highly anticipated winter productions due the COVID-19 surge.

On Wednesday, the Joffrey announced it is postponing Yuri Possokhov’s “Don Quixote” to June 2-12 at the Lyric Opera House. The family-friendly ballet, set to a score by Ludwig Minkus and based on the eponymous novel Miguel de Cervantes, was originally set to run Feb. 16-27.

Current ticket holders will have their seats transferred to a corresponding performance date; refunds or exchanges are also available at Joffrey.org/DonQuixote. Single tickets are on sale at joffrey.org.

On Tuesday, Court Theatre announced the three-week postponement of “The Lady From the Sea.” Originally set for Feb. 4-March 6, the show will now run Feb. 25-March 27. Ticketholders are being notified directly regarding refunds and exchanges.

The Henrik Ibsen play, directed by Shana Cooper from a new translation by Richard Nelson, was among the shows in the 2020 Court season canceled due to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent mandated shutdown of all theaters. Individual tickets are on sale at (773) 753-4472, or online at www.CourtTheatre.org.

Chaon Cross and Samuel Taylor star in the Court Theatre production of “The Lady from the Sea.” Photo by Michael BrosilowMichael Brosilow

The companies are the latest in a series of season scheduling upheaval at area theaters. Last week, Steppenwolf Theatre announced the indefinite postponement of its production of “1919.” The news followed announcements by Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s postponement of “The Notebook” and the postponement of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” by Broadway in Chicago.

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Of all the disturbing things about the Bears’ sorry situation, the most disturbing is the unshakeable feeling that it’s going to take some sort of cosmic interruption, maybe a ripple in the fabric of time and space, for the team to get things right.

It certainly won’t be because ownership knows what it’s doing. I’ve often wondered if it has ever occurred to the McCaskeys, in a moment of clarity, that they’re not in possession of a clue. And I always come back to — what’s the word? — no. They don’t know that they don’t know.

They’ve made the same mistakes over and over again in hiring coaches and general managers, not necessarily because they’re incapable of learning how to do things better but because they don’t think they need to learn new things.

That obliviousness was on display during team chairman George McCaskey’s bizarre, out-of-tune press conference Monday. He announced that he had hired 79-year-old Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian as a consultant in the search for a new coach and general manager. He also revealed that he had named team president/enemy of the fan base Ted Phillips to the hiring committee and that the final decision on the GM and coach would be left to … drum roll … George McCaskey.

The Bears will argue that hiring Polian is proof that they’re willing to admit when they’re over their heads. That argument might hold up if it weren’t for the fact the Bears have taken the same path for previous searches. They hired former Browns general manager Ernie Accorsi after the 2014 season to help find replacements for general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman. Accorsi, then 73, came up with Ryan Pace and John Fox. On Monday, the Bears fired Pace and Fox’s replacement, Matt Nagy.

The Bears saw how the GM emeritus approach worked with Accorsi running the show (not well!), yet here they are, drinking from the same well again. They don’t know that they don’t know.

A better approach? Maybe find some advisers who are a little more plugged in to today’s NFL. Polian last worked in the league in 2011. He retired as an ESPN analyst almost three years ago. I don’t mean to be ageist here, especially with the decades piling up on me like junk mail. But it is so like the McCaskeys to travel back in time to find a consultant for their coach and GM search. They live for history, and that’s what Polian is.

This approach, with the McCaskeys offering guidance from the backseat, has been a failure. It’s the cause of an unrelenting headache for anyone who has observed this franchise for any length of time: You don’t want the family making the decision on a general manager and a coach, yet you assume that whatever people the family hires to find a coach and general manager automatically will be tainted by the mark of the McCaskeys. This is why many Bears fans live with the certainty that all is lost.

In all the years of franchise weirdness, one of my favorite moments was when the Bears hired a search firm to find them a general manager in 2001. After a thorough and costly process, the headhunters somehow found Jerry Angelo. He had been hiding for 14 years in the Bears’ division as director of player personnel in Tampa Bay. It was a miracle.

Angelo ended up having some success, helping the Bears to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2006 season. But he also traded for Jay Cutler, and the secondhand effects of Smokin’ Jay hung around Chicago for years after his departure. It’s what people around here remember most about Angelo.

Don’t be surprised if Polian, a former Colts president, recommends Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown, a former Bears assistant director of pro personnel, for the Bears GM job. It’ll be another needle-in-a-haystack miracle.

Why wouldn’t the Bears come up with a different method, one that doesn’t involve a search committee that includes McCaskey and trusty sidekick Phillips? It gets back to not knowing that you don’t know. And there’s no one at Halas Hall willing, able or conscious enough to tell the McCaskeys that they’re out of their depth.

The solution to all of this would be a sale of the team. There’s no indication that’s going to happen anytime soon. I wish a court would allow the Bears to go into receivership. Let somebody else run the team’s affairs. But you and I, having watched this franchise for too long, know how that would turn out. The receiver would drop the ball.

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The Big Ten announced Wednesday that it had updated its 2022 football schedule.

For Illinois, that means the Illini will still play seven home games and the non-conference schedule is unaffected. But the dates of six league games have changed. Only the Nov. 26 road game at Northwestern remains the same.

Illinois’ crossover games with the Big Ten East Division now include Indiana, Michigan State, and Michigan. The trip to Indiana has been added to the 2022 schedule and a trip to Penn State has been removed.

Northwestern’s Aug. 27 season-opener against Nebraska in Ireland and Oct. 22 game at Maryland remain on the schedule. But the Sept. 3 game at Indiana has been removed and an Oct. 1 game at Penn State has been added to the Wildcats’ schedule.

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The Chicago Bears have been extremely active in their hunt to find both a new general manager and head coach after firing both Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace on Monday, January 10th.

The search for their GM position added another candidate, as another request was put in on Wednesday morning.

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For the next month, the Chicago Bulls will be playing several games against playoff teams. It’s going to be a tough stretch before the 2022 NBA All Star Break.

But, this is what makes great teams. The Bulls continue to stick at number one in the Eastern Conference above the Brooklyn Nets, in large part because of how deep their roster is.

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