offseason

Growth After Struggles With Maturity

to be a legitimate Western Conference contender and not just a one-round-and-done team?

“Our emotional control was really disappointing at times this year. It wasn’t just the young guys, too, which is even more disappointing,” general manager Tim Connelly said Thursday. “So I think that’s going to be a huge focus of this offseason, not just relative to acquiring new faces, but how do the guys who are here be a bit more mature when things don’t go their way.”

The most publicized moment, of course, was in the April 9 game against New Orleans when Jaden McDaniels broke his hand by punching a wall out of frustration and Gobert took a swing at teammate Kyle Anderson during an argument in a timeout. Anthony

Edwards also found some trouble Tuesday for swinging a folding chair on his way off the court following the seriesending loss in Denver. His outburst allegedly caused minor injuries to two arena employees. “We have to address some of this, some of the behaviors, for sure. A lot of it I think comes from a good place. They’re competitive. I don’t think they’re malicious or petulant or necessarily just trying to act out to be acting out,” coach Chris Finch said. “We have a lot of guys who have not necessarily won a lot in their career as young players, so handling failures as they come and the stakes are a little higher also exposes some flash points for us. They’re all growth opportunities, for sure.” The Wolves also led the league in ejections (nine), tied for the most fouled-out players (15) and had the secondhighest total of personal fouls (1,768), according to Sportradar data.

Perhaps more implicating was the 9-15 record against the bottom four teams in each conference: Washington, Orlando, Charlotte and Detroit in the East; and Utah, Portland, Houston and San Antonio in the West. Continuing a trend that cost them their playoff series last year against Memphis, the Wolves lost 18 games in which they had a lead of 10-plus points.

“We’re not where we should be, where we need to be yet in terms of winning habits,” Gobert said. “I think we can get there. I think we will get there, but those things take time and

“They told me if I fall to them, they were going to make sure they grabbed me,” Addison said on a video conference call from the draft with reporters in Minnesota. His confidence stood out, but so did his desire.

“You feel a hungry player that wants to be great,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.

Addison, K.J. Osborn and tight end T.J. Hockenson will be counted on to keep Vikings opponents honest without tilting the coverages so much toward Jefferson, who led the NFL with 128 receptions and 1,809 yards and won the AP Offensive Player of the Year award in 2022. “We want to make people pay for that,” O’Connell said. With uncertainty beyond this year at quarterback with Kirk Cousins on an expiring contract, the Vikings passed on Kentucky’s Will Levis, who was widely expected to be gone in the first half of the first round. Three of the first

Harry Belafonte: Principled, passionate arts, rights visionary

also provide the impetus for policymakers and regulators to address a systemic problem that has plagued the banking industry from the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s to the financial crisis of 2008 to the recent turmoil following SVB’s demise: incentive structures that encourage excessive risk-taking.

First Republic Bank became the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the lender was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and sold to JPMorgan Chase on May 1, 2023. First Republic is the latest victim of the panic that has roiled small and midsize banks since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023.

The collapse of SVB and now First Republic underscores how the impact of risky decisions at one bank can quickly spread into the broader financial system. It should

The Federal Reserve’s top regulator seems to agree. On April 28, the central bank’s vice chair for supervision delivered a stinging report on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, blaming its failures on its weak risk management, as well as supervisory missteps.

We are professors of economics who study and teach the history of financial crises. In each of the financial upheavals since the 1980s, the common denominator was risk. Banks provided incentives that encouraged executives to take big risks to boost profits, with few consequences if their bets turned bad. In other words, all carrot and no stick.

One question we are grappling with now is what can be done to keep history from repeating itself and threatening the banking system, economy and jobs of everyday people.

S&L crisis sets the stage

The precursor to the banking crises of the 21st century was the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

The so-called S&L crisis, like the collapse of SVB, began in a rapidly changing interest rate environment. Savings and loan banks, also known as thrifts, provided home loans at attractive interest rates. When the Federal Reserve under Chairman Paul Volcker aggressively raised rates in the late 1970s to fight raging inflation, S&Ls were suddenly earning less on fixedrate mortgages while having to pay higher interest to attract

Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the passing of Harry Belafonte, a 2010 recipient of the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil and Human Rights Award — the civil rights community’s highest honor:

“Legendary civil rights activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte lived his passion and his principles for freedom. He once said, ‘You can cage the singer but not the song.’ He meant freedom’s song. And he never stopped fighting for our freedom from racism in all its forms with a selflessness built on a love of humankind rarely matched in one so prized for his talent and his beauty.

“I was fortunate to meet Mr. Belafonte at a time in my life when I needed to hear his words. What he told me, and what I saw in his enduring fight against systemic injustices, reinspired me.

“Beyond his tremendous success and leadership in the arts, Belafonte dedicated his life to the civil rights movement and Black liberation, and he has been a friend to our civil and human rights coalition for decades. He was a confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, financed numerous voter registration drives, and raised funds to free imprisoned civil rights protesters — including bailing Dr. King out of Birmingham City Jail during the 1963 Birmingham campaign. He also became a cultural advisor to the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy and was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987. His commitment to human rights, including his outspoken opposition to apartheid and his longstanding advocacy for the people of Haiti, was unwavering.

“We are not only deeply indebted to Harry Belafonte for his decades of work fighting for the rights of all of us and for a just, multiracial democracy. We are also empowered by his leadership that never faltered and his legacy that lives on. The Leadership Conference mourns our loss of a civil rights giant as we send him home with a profound gratitude for his fire and friendship, his courage, and his lifelong dedication to the movement. Rest in power.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.