At this point, it's the only question worth asking: Who will win Friday night's lightweight title bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Anthony Crolla at Staples Center in Los Angeles? Our experts make their picks.

Dan Rafael
ESPN.com

Lomachenko by decision
Crolla is a solid pro and former world titlist who has faced good opposition and always gives a good effort. But Lomachenko is on an entirely different level. No knock on Crolla, but this looks like a one-sided Lomachenko victory, as are most Lomachenko fights. Lomachenko in dominating decision.

Timothy Bradley Jr.
ESPN boxing analyst/former champion

Lomachenko by KO6
It's been a while since Lomachenko has been 100 percent, and we know what he can do when he is. I go with a sixth-round KO. The man is back walking on his hands.

Juan Manuel Marquez
ESPN Deportes boxing analyst/former champion
Lomachenko by KO
Lomachenko will show his speed, punching combinations and accuracy. He is so much better than Crolla at everything. That's why Lomachenko is clearly the favorite to get his hand raised on Friday.

Nick Parkinson
ESPN UK

Lomachenko by KO6
Crolla is dreaming of pulling off one of the biggest shocks in British boxing history, but the reality is Lomachenko will be too slick, quick and accurate for him to last beyond the halfway mark. You won't be able to fault Crolla's spirit and courage. The trouble for Crolla is he won't be able to find any fault in Lomachenko.

Teddy Atlas
ESPN boxing analyst

Lomachenko by TKO
I believe Crolla's style is made to order for Lomachenko. Then again, you could probably say that about many fighters out there when they have to go against the top fighter in the world. I do think that when Crolla puts the ear muffs on (and covers up defensively), Lomachenko will find his body an inviting target, and then when Crolla begins to lean forward, look for Lomachenko's uppercuts to score. Six or seven rounds of that should be enough for Lomachenko to get the TKO win.

Nigel Collins
ESPN.com

Lomachenko by TKO
Crolla's high point was most likely his first bout with Jorge Linares, in which he lost a decision in a very competitive fight. Linares won the rematch in a much more convincing manner. Lomachenko, on the other hand, stopped Linares, and he'll probably do the same to Crolla. The Englishman is a good fighter, but Lomachenko is a great one.

Steve Kim
ESPN.com

Lomachenko by KO
While Crolla is a solid professional fighter, Lomachenko is on a different level. Crolla is sound enough and experienced enough to not get blown out early -- and he certainly won't fold up his tent like others have in the past. Crolla will eventually get worn down by the skills of Lomachenko, who I think stops him between Rounds 8 and 10.

Eric Raskin
Showtime Boxing

Lomachenko KO8
No disrespect to Crolla, who has proven himself a solid contender over the years, but it's hard to see him winning a round, never mind winning the fight. Lomachenko is on a whole different level, and he figures to pile up points and punishment until the ref or Crolla's corner takes mercy on him and stops the fight.

Charles Moynihan
ESPN bureau producer

Lomachenko by TKO8
Lomachenko, with the most diversified set of tools in his boxing toolbox, thoroughly outclasses Crolla and wins via eighth-round TKO.

Salvador Rodriguez
ESPNdeportes.com

Lomachenko by KO
I recognize Crolla as one of the most intense fighters of recent times in British boxing, but I think he has very little chance against a man with the quality of Lomachenko. I think it will be another Loma concert, and we will see a technical knockout within eight or nine rounds. Be prepared to watch the excellence of "Hi-Tech."

Claudia Trejos
ESPNdeportes.com

Lomachenko by KO7
Crolla lost twice to Jorge Linares. Linares lost to Loma in the 10th round by TKO. Let's do the math, shall we? Lomachenko will beat Crolla by KO. I don't think it will get past Round 7.

Bernardo Pilatti
ESPNdeportes.com

Lomachenko by decision
Lomachenko has the speed, throws a lot of punches and has technical advantage. Crolla is strong, takes punches well and has height and reach advantages. That won't be enough, though. Lomachenko's IQ will lead him to an easy unanimous-decision victory.

Jorge Eduardo Sánchez
ESPN Deportes boxing host

Lomachenko by KO
Crolla has good technique, but he's pretty far from elite. He is aggressive, but that will not be enough against a fighter with Lomachenko's skills.

Your take:

Pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko has always been vocal about the kinds of fights he wants: big ones. He wants to win as many belts in as many divisions as he can, and he wants title unification fights.

In just 13 professional bouts, Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine and viewed by many as the greatest amateur boxer in history thanks to a 396-1 record, has already won world titles in three weight classes: featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight.

In his most recent fight, he got a chance to unify two belts, doing so at lightweight with a one-sided decision over Jose Pedraza in a December fight in which he dropped Pedraza twice in the 11th round to punctuate the victory.

Now Lomachenko is set for his third lightweight bout and ready to make his second title defense against former titlist and mandatory challenger Anthony Crolla, whom he will meet in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Friday (ESPN+, 11 p.m. ET main card, 8 p.m. ET for preliminaries) at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The fight was scheduled to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the debut of ESPN+.

Lomachenko is a huge favorite to defeat Crolla, but that is certainly no knock on Crolla. Lomachenko would be heavily favored to beat anyone in the world at lightweight and below not named fellow lightweight titleholder Mikey Garcia. But a fight with Garcia or another unification bout was not available to Lomachenko for this date, and without a unification fight being possible he was ordered to make the mandatory against Crolla.

"I want to fight the best, but now Crolla is the best choice," Lomachenko said. "He is the mandatory challenger and wanted to fight me. That is why I accepted this fight. I prepare like always and will put on a great performance for my fans in Los Angeles and on ESPN+. I will show everyone my best style and hope everyone enjoys it."

Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KOs), 32, had become one of Lomachenko's mandatory challengers when he won a unanimous decision over Daud Yordan in a title eliminator on Nov. 10 in Manchester, England, Crolla's hometown.

Had Lomachenko not taken the fight, he would have been stripped of one of his belts. Given his tunnel vision of wanting to win all the belts in his division, there was no way he would have allowed that to happen.

So Crolla, who is experienced, hungry and has a dogged determination and belief in himself, gets another title shot.

"It's been a long camp and the hardest of my career, physically and mentally, but I am in a great place and I'm raring to go," Crolla said. "He's seen by many as the best fighter on the planet and I know that I have a huge challenge ahead of me. But these are the kinds of fights that I got into the sport for at the age of 10. I've dreamt about nights like this and it's almost time."

This is your Ringside Seat for the fight:

Crolla, not Commey

Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs), a 31-year-old southpaw, had hoped to quench his desire to unify titles by facing fellow 135-pound belt-holder Richard Commey (28-2, 25 KOs).

In fact, Top Rank had in place a deal for the winner of the vacant world title fight between Commey and Isa Chaniev on Feb. 2 to face Lomachenko next. However, when Commey won the title by drilling Chaniev in the second round, he injured his right hand, putting him on the shelf for several weeks and making him unavailable to face Lomachenko on Friday.

That turn of events dropped the bout in Crolla's lap, although if Lomachenko wins he probably will face Commey, who was cleared to return to training last week, later in the year.

Crolla, who will be boxing in the United States for the first time and outside of the United Kingdom for the second time, was happy to get the fight. He has big respect for Lomachenko but is unmoved by the underdog status.

"He's a very unique fighter, his movement is exceptional and he creates great angles," Crolla said about Lomachenko. "You can see what all the praise is about. He's one of the greatest amateurs ever and he's taken that into the pro ranks. It's unbelievable what he's done in a short space of time in the pros, but I am here not just to test myself against the very best but to give it everything I have to shock the world.

"People aren't giving me a chance but that doesn't matter to me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The motivation to me is attaching my name to one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history without a doubt, and I don't think I'm speaking out of turn there. As a boxing fan and someone that lives and breathes the sport, that's all the motivation I need. I've been the underdog all throughout my career and I know that this is by far the biggest challenge I've faced, but it's one I can't wait to get stuck into."

Underdog or not, Joe Gallagher, Crolla's trainer, said whatever happens, his man will give it everything he has like other fighters he has trained have done when taking on pound-for-pound stars.

"It helps that I've been in this position before," Gallagher told the U.K.'s Sky Sports. "Do I think that [Paul Smith] was disgraced against Andre Ward? No. Was Liam Smith disgraced when he fought [Canelo] Alvarez? Not a chance.

"This is just part of the business when you're going in against guys at the absolute highest level of the sport and I know for an absolute fact that whatever the result when Crolla takes on Lomachenko, he'll give it his all and he won't disgrace himself either."

Common opponent: Linares

The most obvious way to compare Lomachenko and Crolla is based on how each performed against a common opponent in Jorge Linares, the well-respected former three-division world titleholder.

Lomachenko said he is familiar with Crolla only because he fought Linares.

"I don't know too much about him," Lomachenko said. "I know him from his two fights with Jorge Linares. I do know he is an aggressive fighter, and I like to fight guys who come forward."

Crolla won a lightweight title in 2015 and made one defense before squaring off with Linares in Manchester in September 2016. It was a fantastic fight and highly competitive, but Linares' speed, skills and outstanding body attack gave Crolla problems and he lost the belt by unanimous decision.

They met six months later in an immediate rematch, also in Manchester, and Linares had a much easier time, knocking Crolla down in the seventh round and winning a more decisive decision, after which Crolla won three fights in a row to set up the Lomachenko fight.

Linares would go on to retain the title twice more before defending against Lomachenko, who was moving up from junior lightweight, last May at a raucous Madison Square Garden in New York.

Linares dropped Lomachenko in the sixth round of a very competitive fight in which Lomachenko, despite suffering a torn labrum in his right shoulder in the second round, rallied for a dramatic body-shot knockout victory in the 10th round to take the title in a fight that was even on the scorecards entering the round.

Although comparing results against a common opponent is not necessarily a predictor of what is to come -- after all, Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier, who lost to George Foreman, who lost to Ali -- it is worth noting that Crolla lost twice to Linares, who was knocked out by an injured Lomachenko.

Face to face

• Lomachenko: Making the second defense of the WBA lightweight title, first of WBO lightweight title

• Lomachenko: 11-fight win streak dating to June 2014

• Lomachenko: 6-1 vs. world titleholders -- only loss came to Orlando Salido in 2014 (split decision in his second fight as a professional). Two-time Olympic gold medalist for Ukraine (2008, 2012)

• Lomachenko: Lands 47.7 percent of power punches, according to CompuBox (lightweight average is 36.1 percent). Opponents land 17.2 percent of punches, second lowest, according to CompuBox

• Crolla: Has won three straight fights after losing back-to-back fights to Jorge Linares (Linares lost to Lomachenko in 2018)

• Crolla: Held WBA lightweight title from 2015-17

• Crolla: 2-2-1 in world title fights (2 KO)

• Crolla: 49.1 percent of landed punches land on the body, CompuBox average is 28 percent. Lands 38.9 percent of power punches, lightweight average is 35.7 percent, according to CompuBox

Lomachenko's future?

Certainly, if Lomachenko wins, the Commey fight remains on the drawing board for later this year. But what else is there for Lomachenko, especially given that a fight with Garcia is so unlikely for several reasons, including questions about whether Garcia will ever even fight at lightweight again?

"I still want that fight, 100 percent, but it is up to Mikey," Lomachenko said. "Can he cut the weight? I don't know. But if he can make 135, I want to fight."

Last month, Garcia lost a shutout decision to Errol Spence Jr. in a welterweight title fight, but Garcia has not decided whether he'll return to lightweight. If he doesn't, that would leave his belt vacant and it's not out of the question that Lomachenko could fight for it or perhaps the winner of that belt.

Lomachenko is not a big lightweight by any means, so he has also said there is a chance that for the right fight he would return to junior lightweight.

"Right now, I am a lightweight, but lightweight is not my ideal weight category," he said. "My goal now is to unify all four titles, and then, we'll see. Maybe I'll move back down to 130 pounds and win world titles there for a second time."

Although this possible fight doesn't fall into the unification category, it would be somewhat of a significant bout: Miguel Berchelt. He holds a junior lightweight belt, and should he defeat former titlist Francisco Vargas in their May 11 rematch, Berchelt and Top Rank have talked about a possible fight with Lomachenko. Of course, maybe Lomachenko would want to return to junior lightweight and challenge him for the belt in that division.

Then there is also one other fight that would surely create huge buzz against 2018 ESPN prospect of the year Teofimo Lopez Jr. (12-0, 10 KOs), an electrifying 21-year-old and 2016 Olympian who has dazzled on Lomachenko undercards and called out for a fight with Lomachenko, something few fighters do.

Lomachenko would have little to gain from the fight unless Lopez could find his way to a title first, but it would be a big promotion, create huge fan interest and is certainly makeable since they are both with Top Rank.

Asked about his interest in that fight, Lomachenko said, "I'm ready for everyone. I need the belts. If you have a belt, you can come in the ring and I'll fight with you. My goal is to unify all the titles. If it's Commey later this year, that would be a great fight. Any champion, I would want to fight. I want to go down in history as a great champion."

Crolla is hoping to render that discussion moot.

"I've boxed at elite level before, I've been boxing at world title level for years and I've earned this shot; it's not been given to me," Crolla said. "I know that I have to pull off something massive, but I do belong at this level and I'll prove it. I won't be in awe. I've worked far too hard to let that happen and I am confident.

"It's just me and him in the ring. Like any sport, you need that little bit of luck, but I have worked immensely hard to get as lucky as I can, but we're going in with a good game plan and I cannot be better prepared."

Rafael's prediction: Lomachenko by wide decision.

Your take:

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The scorecard read 70, a 2-under start for Tiger Woods at this Masters. It might not sound overly impressive, especially given what he has done around this place in his career. But at the moment he walked off the 18th green, shook hands with playing partners Jon Rahm and Haotong Li, Woods stood just one shot off the lead at a tournament he has not won since 2005. There was a buzz around Augusta National on Thursday, because for a brief period, Woods' name crawled to the very top of those famous white scoreboards as he stood tied for the lead.

How did he do it? We go through all 18 holes to show exactly how he put himself in position to make a serious run at his fifth green jacket.

Going into the round

No. 1: Par 4, 445 Yards

Score: Par
Total: Even

No. 2 : Par 5, 575 Yards

Score: Birdie
Total: 1 under

No. 3: Par 4, 350 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 1 under

No. 4: Par 3, 240 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 1 under

No. 5: Par 4, 495 Yards

Score: Bogey
Total: Even

No. 6: Par 3, 180 Yards

Score: Par
Total: Even

No. 7: Par 4, 450 Yards

Score: Par
Total: Even

No. 8: Par 5, 570 Yards

Score: Par
Total: Even

No. 9: Par 4, 460 Yards

Score: Birdie
Total: 1 under

No. 10: Par 4, 495 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 1 under

No. 11: Par 4, 505 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 1 under

No. 12: Par 3, 155 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 1 under

No. 13: Par 5, 510 Yards

Score: Birdie
Total: 2 under

No. 14: Par 4, 440 Yards

Score: Birdie
Total: 3 under

No. 15: Par 5, 530 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 3 under

No. 16: Par 3, 170 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 3 under

No. 17: Par 4, 440 Yards

Score: Bogey
Total: 2 under

No. 18: Par 4, 465 Yards

Score: Par
Total: 2 under

The Phoenix Suns on Thursday announced James Jones as their new general manager after he filled the role on an interim basis this season.

Along with the Jones move, the Suns also announced the hiring of Jeff Bower as senior vice president of basketball operations.

Jones will oversee basketball operations, with Bower and assistant general manager Trevor Bukstein reporting to him. Jones and Bukstein had shared oversight of basketball operations following Ryan McDonough's firing as GM in October.

"[Jones] is instilling the same championship culture and standard that he experienced on multiple occasions as a player," Suns owner Robert Sarver said in a statement. "I have the utmost confidence in James as the leader of our basketball operations moving forward, and we are aligned in the ultimate goal of one day bringing an NBA championship to Phoenix."

Jones has worked in the Suns' front office since retiring as a player after 14 years in the NBA, which included two seasons in Phoenix.

Bower formerly served as general manager in Charlotte, New Orleans and Detroit. He worked for the Pistons under president of basketball operations and coach Stan Van Gundy for four seasons until a change was made a year ago.

The Suns had a 19-63 record this season, but they have a promising nucleus of young players that includes Devin Booker and rookie center Deandre Ayton. Coach Igor Kokoskov completed his first season on the job.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's a part of Kemba Walker that wants to play his entire career with the Charlotte Hornets. There's another part that wants to compete for an NBA championship before he's too old.

With the Hornets not ready to compete with teams such as the Golden State Warriors, the 28-year-old Walker enters this offseason having to make a choice between loyalty and chasing a ring.

And he's not ready to do that just yet.

"I have no feeling right now, I don't know," Walker said of his impending decision in free agency this summer. "Honestly, I don't know what to expect. I guess it's a lot of different emotions bottled up into one. I'm not sure. I don't know."

The three-time All-Star point guard is expected to be a hot commodity when free agency opens July 1.

He's coming off his most productive season statistically, averaging a career-high 25.6 points per game to go along with 5.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds. He was selected as an All-Star Game starter for the first time and has put himself in the running for the All-NBA team.

Walker's predicament is that if the Hornets re-sign him to a max contract, they won't have many pieces to put around him -- which means the team could continue to muddle in mediocrity as it has done for the first eight seasons in Charlotte. The Hornets have been to the postseason only twice during that time and have never gotten out of the first round.

Signing with another team could give him the opportunity to compete for the championship he so desperately craves.

"I mean, obviously I do want to be competitive because I want to be able to play in the playoffs," Walker said. "So I want to think that would have some influence" on my decision.

At media day last September, an excited Walker sounded committed to re-signing with the Hornets, saying he "wanted to create something" in Charlotte. Walker said Thursday that "nothing has changed" in that regard, but his enthusiasm has clearly waned over the past seven months.

"I want to win," Walker said. "I want to win."

PARKER'S FUTURE

Tony Parker said he's "50-50" on whether he will return for a 19th NBA season after his streak of 17 straight playoff appearances was snapped.

"I don't want to play on a rebuilding team," said Parker, who is under contract for $5.25 million next season. "I want to play for a team that's fighting to make the playoffs at least."

Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac has fired coach Dave Joerger after the team's best season since 2005-06, it was announced Thursday.

"After evaluating the season, I determined that we need to move in a different direction in order to take us to the next level," Divac said in a statement. "On behalf of the entire Kings organization, I want to thank Dave for his contributions to our team and I wish him all the best."

Despite Joerger engineering an improbable 39-win season, Divac is using the muscle of his new contract extension through the 2022-23 season to consolidate power around him, league sources said.

Divac fired assistant general manager Brandon Williams earlier Thursday morning, sources said, and planned to meet with players after firing Joerger.

What makes Joerger's dismissal confusing to many inside and outside the Kings' world is simply this: He transformed Sacramento's style of play into one of the league's fastest, most exciting brands of basketball, and point guard De'Aaron Fox has developed into one of the NBA's bright young stars.

Sacramento averaged 114.2 points per game this season, which ranked ninth in the league. It was an increase of 15.4 points after the Kings finished last in the NBA at 98.8 points per game during the 2017-18 season.

Tension between management and Joerger regarding playing time for certain young players and relationship strains impacted Divac's decision, sources said. Still, most around the NBA believed the team's rapid improvement under Joerger and significant overperformance based on preseason expectations would have forced the organization to consider a contract extension.

Joerger, who has a 98-148 record without a playoff appearance in his three seasons with the Kings, had one year remaining on his contract. Prior to joining the Kings, he coached the Memphis Grizzlies for three seasons. He has an overall NBA coaching record of 245-247.

The Kings, in announcing Divac's new four-year deal, praised the GM for helping in the team's rebuild.

"Vlade has been vital to what we are building here," owner Vivek Ranadive said in a statement. "Throughout his entire career, Vlade is someone who has always made those around him better, both on and off the court."

As parts of a seismic organizational overhaul, the Memphis Grizzlies fired coach J.B. Bickerstaff and reassigned general manager Chris Wallace Thursday.

Wallace and vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger were demoted to a scouting and senior advisory roles, respectively.

The Grizzlies are elevating Jason Wexler to president, overseeing basketball and business operations.

Assistant GM/team counsel Zach Kleiman is elevating to executive VP of basketball operations, league sources said. Zleiman will run the day-to-day operations for the Grizzlies. He had taken an increasing role in basketball operations in recent years and elevates now to a prominent position in organization.

The franchise is planning to add experienced front office executives to the organization.

"In order to put our team on the path to sustainable success, it was necessary to change our approach to basketball operations," team chairman Robert Pera said in a statement. "I look forward to a re-energized front office and fresh approach to Memphis Grizzlies basketball under new leadership, while retaining the identity and values that have distinguished our team."

Pera went on to thank Wallace and Hollinger for their past contributions to success and "look forward to their contributions to our future ones."

Bickerstaff had completed his first full season on the job after taking over as interim coach in the 2018-19 season. The organization had been complimentary over his handling of a difficult season of injuries, trades and roster turnover.

Wallace replaced Jerry West as Grizzlies GM in 2007, leading a renaissance of the organization that included acquiring franchise pillars Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. The Grizzlies reached the playoffs eight straight years before missing in each of the last two seasons.

Bickerstaff, 40, was 48-97 in two seasons with the Grizzlies, never making the playoffs. His only other NBA hea-coaching experience was as interim in Houston in 2015-16 when he went 37-34.

He is the son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

THE NBA REGULAR season is finally over, and if the signals emanating from locker rooms over the past six months offer any indication, the end couldn't come soon enough. The league wasn't without its feel-good stories -- the ascendant Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets, Luka 'n' Trae -- but 2018-19 might be best remembered as the NBA's winter of discontent.

The league and those who love it often celebrate the dominance of juicy NBA storylines, but even commissioner Adam Silver conceded a few weeks ago that buzz isn't an end unto itself.

"At some point it does matter what they're saying," Silver said.

What they've been saying about the NBA for the better part of the year is that many of the most talented players and charismatic teams suffer from chronic unhappiness. Maybe, as Silver implied, it's a palpable anxiety driven by social media. Or maybe it's the burden of expectation that comes with stardom in a player-driven league. Maybe this restlessness has always existed, shielded from public scrutiny in an era where the moods of players, coaches and executives weren't so easily conveyed.

It's not as if the pressures of a high-intensity environment caught the NBA by surprise. For years, long before Twitter or the proliferation of free-agency-as-reality-show, smart teams have emphasized chemistry and workplace culture as an antidote to the egos, media glare and competing interests that can derail a perfectly good roster of basketball players. But if culture was supposed to stand as the great buffer to the noise, the past 12 months have served as a profound reminder of its limits in a league where individual stardom carries so much weight.

As the postseason gets underway, the undercurrents that exist in Boston, Golden State, Toronto, Philadelphia and San Antonio -- all places where a premium has been placed on the construction and maintenance of team culture -- will be tested. If that culture has value, now would be a good time to see it activated.

WHEN THE BOSTON Celtics hired Brad Stevens in 2013 to be their new head coach, the NBA was in the midst of its great cultural revolution. League executives had embraced many of the tropes of modern management theory and popular behavioral science, as well as lessons from books such as "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," "Grit," "Mindset" and "Thinking, Fast and Slow."

No team embodied this movement like the San Antonio Spurs. Though they had watched Ray Allen rip a championship from their grasp a few weeks earlier, the franchise had forged an identity over nearly two decades based around values such as trust and common sacrifice. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were years past their primes, and Kawhi Leonard was a 21-year-old averaging fewer than 12 points per game, yet the Spurs had plowed through the Western Conference on the strength of "The Spurs Way." As more stars joined forces to build a few select superteams, the Spurs provided an empowering template for the rest of the league:

Any team in any market could overcome a talent deficit if it subscribed to the right principles and inspired its players to be the best versions of themselves.

Stevens arrived in Boston as the avatar of the moment. At a school with an undergraduate enrollment of just over 4,000, he had established "The Butler Way." Humble, thoughtful and wholly committed to his craft, Stevens exuded calm and had a keen understanding that high-level basketball was about the players. At the height of the cultural revolution, he was the perfect candidate to cultivate a sustainable value system in Boston. And as an affirmation to the import and scope of building a culture, the Celtics furnished Stevens with a six-year contract, saying: For the near term, worry more about the holistic task, less about wins and losses.

Culture triumphed in the NBA for the next couple of years. In June 2014, the Spurs avenged their Finals loss to the Miami Heat in a series that was a pass-happy exhibition of how team prevails over talent. That fall, Steve Kerr arrived in Oakland, helping a middling playoff team vault to greatness with an ethic of joy. San Antonio disciple Mike Budenholzer won 60 games with the Atlanta Hawks without a top-20 player in the midst of an ownership scandal, while the Spurs chugged along, winning another 128 games in Duncan's final two seasons.

In Boston, Stevens delivered as promised: A scrappy, young Celtics team without much star power took shape, and a culture of work and selflessness was laid down. Each year, talent was added to the roster in the form of draft picks and strategic free-agent signings, and consequently, wins were added to the Celtics' record. Despite a personnel overhaul, Boston spent all of one year in postseason exile. The singular takeaway: Nothing accelerates rebuilding like culture.

Today, all of that seems quaint. To the cynic, a quick scan of the NBA could suggest that the primacy of organizational culture looks more like a fleeting fad of the late-Obama era.

Stevens' team in Boston -- picked by many to win the Eastern Conference this season -- has been embattled since the opening days of the campaign. Kyrie Irving couldn't help himself from calling out younger teammates, while Stevens has openly questioned the team's connectedness. In Oakland, Kevin Durant's pending free agency and his larger unhappiness has rendered Team Joy utterly joyless for a while now. San Antonio, the league's leading cultural institution, was effectively forced to ship out its next generational talent in an ugly stalemate of lost trust.

There are other examples on the periphery: Another Spurs alumnus, Brett Brown, has spent five years devoted to his cultural blueprint in Philadelphia, but it's uncertain whether the 76ers' tinderbox will be resilient enough to withstand the combustibility of its roster. In Portland, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and coach Terry Stotts are all culture-first personalities, but if the Trail Blazers bow out in the first round of the playoffs this month, what exactly is the added value of that culture? Ditto the Utah Jazz.

For San Antonio, Golden State and Boston, the reliance on a well-honed culture came up against the allure of star talent.

In 2015, the Spurs beat out suitors in glam destinations such as New York and Los Angeles for free agent LaMarcus Aldridge. The Spurs knew Aldridge, who could be sullen, wasn't exactly a culture vulture, yet they determined that the presence of Duncan and the strength of the cultural foundation could morph Aldridge into a Spur.

For Golden State, the gambit was far simpler: Durant, one of the NBA's most prolific individual performers, wanted to join its ranks in 2016 after the Warriors lost the Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Adding a talent of that magnitude to a culture that strong would produce compounding effects that could make the Warriors the greatest team in the sport's history.

The Celtics encountered a similar opportunity when Irving was made available in 2017. And like the Spurs and Warriors, the Celtics made a quick determination when presented with the question: Do we want to screw with our culture?

For a championship point guard with the finest shot-making skills, we quite certainly do.

Just as the NBA convinced itself that culture was the silver bullet that could recast the fortunes of a franchise, these organizations believed their elite cultures could absorb any player with a desire to win, no matter how prickly. That's what the culture is for -- and the better the player, the more steadfast that belief.

By every account, there remains a pervasive culture in San Antonio, the product of five championships, leadership at the top, the legacy of Duncan and the front office's taste in basketball players. However strong that culture, it couldn't persuade Leonard to want to stay. And less than five years after schooling the league with the pass, the Spurs are now a team that gets the ball in to Aldridge on the left block more than a dozen times per game, plays an iso-heavy half-court game and ranks in the bottom 10 in defensive efficiency.

Stephen Curry personified the culture of joy in Golden State, until he personified the last remnants of it. These days, the spirit of the Warriors more resembles Durant -- petulant, defensive and just plain unhappy. In that vein, the Celtics have been consumed by Irving's public education in leadership and, like Durant, the looming decision he will make this July in free agency.

What happened? As is usually the case, there's no one thing: Duncan retired; the Warriors grew bored; maintaining something is never as inspiring as building it; expectations can challenge even the most capable people. At the same time, Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford didn't start believing the wrong things. Curry didn't go rogue, and Kerr didn't start valuing pettiness over empathy. Stevens didn't forget how to comport himself, and Al Horford didn't wake up in September and become indifferent to team basketball.

More likely, these organizations stumbled into a prevailing reality in the NBA: No culture can fully absorb an incoming superstar. The Heat came closest. The most starched, buttoned-up culture in the league bent to accommodate LeBron James, who thrives in chaos, but never broke en route to a pair of titles. Yet the present-day landscape of the empowered NBA superstar generally means that a team's culture is secondary to that guy's identity, which is logical because talent drives the value of the NBA product. Post-LeBron, the Heat have reclaimed the purity of the culture, but despite routinely overachieving in the regular season, they've won just one playoff series over the past five seasons.

The surprising Clippers offer the sharpest contrast with their current roster composition. During the Lob City era, the Clippers were a team beset by iffy chemistry due, in large part, to a constellation of big egos. Today, the Clippers are the model of the unselfish, love-to-come-to-work collective. Did coach Doc Rivers miraculously transform into the league's most inspiring minister of culture -- Ubuntu 2.0 -- or did he just skillfully preside over a group of agreeable players, none of whom with a claim on stardom and an agenda that often accompanies that status?

An intentional set of values is a very real accelerant for success, and it's certainly better to have a positive culture than not have it. The commitment of Duncan, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki to the empowerment of teammates and staffers was crucial to sculpting championship identities for their respective organizations. But a culture can't make people stay, make them happy or even make them change. It's a series of philosophical suggestions for helping the collective thrive, but suggestions are never compulsory.

If the Celtics crater in the postseason under the force of a team with players who didn't fully trust one another, it would be misguided to assign much of the blame to Stevens for that underachievement -- and the tension in Boston would almost certainly be heightened without him. It also follows that Stevens has possibly received a bit too much credit in past seasons for his temperament and cultural wherewithal.

No head coach can draw up a scheme that will completely foil an opposing superstar on the court; talent of a certain kind is simply unstoppable in the NBA. Asking Stevens, Popovich, Kerr, their front offices or their superstar teammates to spawn a culture that can stand up to the impulses and frustrations of a Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard or any other great player is just as unreasonable. Culture should be a salve, but it can't be a cure.

Washington Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal retired a batter for the first time this season on Wednesday night after allowing the first 10 he faced to reach safely.

Rosenthal came into the game in the ninth inning with the Nationals leading the Philadelphia Phillies 15-0. He walked Rhys Hoskins to open the inning before striking out Andrew Knapp. Rosenthal then walked Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez to load the bases, gave up a run on a groundout by Maikel Franco, but retired Aaron Altherr on a flyout to end the game.

Rosenthal entered the game with an ERA of infinity but lowered that to 72.00 on Wednesday.

"I felt the same I've been feeling, just trying to handle the emotions of being back and the early struggles," Rosenthal told reporters after the game, according to The Washington Post. "My teammates have been incredibly supportive of me. It's been like a family, like everybody wants me to do really well. So I try to embrace that and keep working hard, and that's all I can pretty much do."

Rosenthal, 28, signed a one-year deal with the Nationals this offseason after missing the 2018 season following Tommy John surgery.

"It'll all work out in the end. It's just about learning from it as you go through it, and then eventually, on the backside, I could help anyone else out if they were going through something similar," he told reporters.

Before Rosenthal, the last pitcher to have each of the first 10 batters he faced in a season reach via hit, walk or hit-by-pitch was David Lundquist of the Padres in 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

In his five appearances this season, Rosenthal has allowed 8 earned runs, giving up 4 hits and 7 walks.

The former St. Louis Cardinals closer has a 3.20 ERA in 333 appearances and has 121 saves.

Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will get his first start of the season Monday, taking the mound at home against the Cincinnati Reds, manager Dave Roberts said Thursday.

"He feels good. We feel good about it," Roberts said. "He's chomping at the bit."

Kershaw has been sidelined since early in spring training with left shoulder inflammation.

The left-hander made his second rehab start on Tuesday, throwing 81 pitches -- 59 for strikes -- over six innings for Double-A Tulsa.

Roberts said he does not anticipate any restrictions for Kershaw on Monday.

"If things are going well as far as where he's built up, absolutely," Roberts said. "We also have to bake in the intensity of a major-league game. We've done what we can to put him in the best chance to help himself and help us and obviously not put the bullpen in jeopardy as far as his workload."

Kershaw's return is welcome news to the Dodgers, who put lefty starter Hyun-Jin Ryu on the injured list with a strained left groin. Left-hander Rich Hill is also on the injured list with a knee injury.