OAKLAND, Calif. -- It's the question that has lingered over the Golden State Warriors all season, the one that clouds their future as they play for a third consecutive NBA title: Where will Kevin Durant be playing next season?

The two-time reigning Finals MVP who joined the Warriors following their defeat in the 2016 NBA Finals is expected to be the most sought-after free agent this summer. Durant has faced questions and speculation about his future home all season, as he has declined to commit to staying with the Warriors while also not saying that he's committed to finding a new home either.

So while that question will go unanswered, there's another question looming for the Warriors that far fewer people are asking.

Where will Klay Thompson be playing next season?

Like Durant, Thompson will become a free agent in July. Like Durant, Thompson will get a max contract. And like Durant, Thompson will be pitched on the appeal of being a first option, to break out of Stephen Curry's shadow, and to prove himself up to a new challenge.

So why aren't the Warriors sweating Thompson's future like they are with Durant?

"The media, I think, give him a little bit of a break as far as over-speculating and throwing him into the fire because he hasn't really fueled it -- at all," said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who has been Thompson's teammate for five seasons over his two stints with the Warriors. "You've never heard him say anything bad about wanting to leave here or going to another team or being the No. 1 option. You've never even heard that off the record. Some players say the right thing publicly but have different feelings [in private]. He completely wants to be here and he gets it that this is a very rare situation."

Thompson was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall pick in 2011. He played all 66 games as a rookie, starting 29, but Golden State went just 23-43 in the lockout-shortened season, with Curry missing more than half of it due to ankle injuries. But a season later, Curry and Thompson started 78 games together, beginning one of the NBA's great partnerships, one that Thompson shows no signs of wanting to break up.

Thompson has been open about the fact he wants to stay with the Warriors for years to come. However, league sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe earlier this season that Thompson has no plans to take a discount, despite the massive sneaker endorsement deal he signed with Anta. Thompson could sign a five-year, $188 million deal this summer -- and if he makes an All-NBA team, he'd be eligible for a supermax deal that would pay him $221 million.

Chatter surrounding the All-Star swingman's future has played out largely under the radar -- exactly the way he wants it. When asked recently why it has meant so much to produce and stay with the Warriors in the future, Thompson gave the type of simple and understated response that has defined his tenure in the Bay.

"I think it's just the only thing I've known professionally," Thompson told ESPN. "I saw the dark days and now I've seen the glory days. And it's cool to see the process. You appreciate the work it takes to get there. It's simple. I just appreciate how long it took to get to the mountaintop, the work it did, and just seeing how -- empower people in the community and really build this fan base to something special."

Thompson spends most of his nights prior to games at Oracle Arena sitting in front of his locker reading a newspaper. Most nights after games he pleads with Warriors public relations czar Raymond Ridder to not make him go up to the podium and go through the process of speaking to reporters. It's not that Thompson doesn't have anything to say -- he has become arguably the best quote on a team full of future Hall of Famers when he's actually engaged -- but the 29-year-old has no desire to be in the spotlight.

"It's super rare," Draymond Green told ESPN. "Especially in the day and age of social media. In this league, so many dudes just want attention. It's kind of sickening. Just want attention. Don't even do much for it but just want attention. It's rare to have a guy that don't want any. ... It's a new age with dudes. Klay just happen to not be one of them."

As much as the Warriors love Thompson for his laid-back attitude -- exemplified by his off-day dip in the Pacific Ocean before their Game 4 win over the Clippers during the Western Conference first-round series -- they also recognize how important he is to their success on the court.

Over the past three seasons, Thompson has been seen as the Warriors' third, and sometimes fourth, option on a team with two former MVPs in Durant and Curry and a nightly triple-double threat in Green. In that span, Golden State is 107-25 when Thompson scores at least 20 points. That .811 win percentage is nearly 70 points higher than the team's overall success rate in the regular season. The win percentage when Thompson makes at least five 3-pointers (as he has done 47 times in that span), is even higher: .915. By comparison, the Warriors have won 83 percent of their games in which Curry has made five or more 3-pointers over the past three seasons.

That is the Thompson who has largely been absent from the Warriors' playoff series against the Rockets, and the one they'll need to reemerge as the series shifts back to Oakland tied 2-2. Thompson has averaged just 15.4 PPG during the first four games of this series, and is shooting just 39 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Still, Thompson remains the only Warrior to have played in each of the team's playoff games during this run, starting all 112 of them, since 2013. Only LeBron James has appeared in more playoff games in that time.

His recent slump has given light to the fact that as a free-agent target, Thompson is perceived to be a level below Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving this summer. He also brings with him less mystery, at least according to the ESPN Forecast panel. When polled earlier this season about where this year's top free agents will land this summer, 91.7 percent of the experts projected Thompson's return to the Warriors. By comparison, none of the other top targets -- Durant, Leonard, Irving and Anthony Davis -- were given better than a 53 percent shot of returning to their current teams.

Part of the reason for that confidence in Thompson remaining a Warrior is his ability to fit in with the group as it changes around him. Only he, Curry, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have been with the Warriors for each of the past five seasons. Livingston has a team option for next season, and Iguodala can become a free agent in 2020, so locking up Thompson to a long-term deal this summer would go a long way toward providing organizational stability.

"I think Klay sort of ties it all together in a lot of ways," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "There's not one person in this organization who would ever question Klay's agenda or motives. He's just Klay. He just wants to win; he wants to shoot, he wants to play. So that kind of personality is important when you have a lot of emotional swings within a season. Because you need people like Klay who are just easy-going and fun to be around. No B.S."

Even if Warriors owner Joe Lacob wanted to right now, he couldn't come out and say "We plan to offer Klay a max contract"; that's against league protocol. But the reason both the Warriors and Thompson have been so confident about getting an extension done is the respect built up between the two parties over close to a decade. The simple fact is that the Warriors love Thompson and Thompson loves being a Warrior.

Players, coaches, executives all appreciate him for who he is. In the star-studded world of this iteration of the Warriors' dynasty, Thompson's ability to adapt to any situation sets him apart. Especially considering that after all the success Thompson has earned during the Warriors' run, he has the ammunition to fire back on all the critics who doubted his game. Instead, the people who stood in his corner are able to have the last laugh.

Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson was ridiculed six years ago for saying that Thompson and Curry were the "greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game." Six years later, Jackson looks like a prophet and takes "great pride" in his belief in Thompson's maturation.

"I know the work ethic," Jackson said. "I know where he comes from, and he still doesn't get the credit he deserves. Incredible basketball player. I was just actually talking to Kerr about it -- zero maintenance. And I'm just as proud [about] the person he is."

When Kerr arrived on the scene in 2014, reports indicated that the Warriors were in discussions to send Thompson to Minnesota as part of a deal to acquire Kevin Love. Some experts at the time suggested it was the only way to put the franchise over the top. However, the Warriors chose to keep their backcourt intact, thanks in part to then-consultant Jerry West, who strongly discouraged the trade. Ultimately, the Warriors, led by West and Kerr, came around to the belief that Thompson could be a cornerstone for the future, a decision that continues to pay dividends every day.

"I wouldn't use the term validation," Kerr said when asked about that decision five years ago. "I know when I got here and hired my coaching staff and we watched tape it was pretty easy to see: 'This guy's an amazing two-way player.' ... So when we got here it was like, 'This is a no-brainer.' It wasn't a no-brainer to people who had been here because they had seen the flaws with the team and they were trying to take the next step. But ultimately Bob [Myers] came to the same conclusion that we did, which was it's tough to trade a two-way guy. The playoffs are all about two-way [players].

"He's been amazing, an integral part of three championships," Kerr continued. "And just a rock, an absolute rock as a foundational piece for our franchise."

West is now with the LA Clippers, one of the teams that would potentially like to pry Thompson away from Golden State this summer. Not only does the team have the cap space necessary to do so, but Thompson was born in Los Angeles, where his father won multiple championships with the Lakers in the 1980s. However, despite the lack of chatter around him this season, the Warriors aren't about to let Thompson go without a fight.

"I know that everybody -- coaches, management, ownership -- everybody wants Klay back," Kerr said. "I think the feeling is just, Klay wants to be here, we want Klay."

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, whose melee-inciting bat flip three weeks ago continues to follow him, told ESPN's The Dan Le Batard Show on Wednesday that he is just trying to draw fans by having fun and isn't worried about how other teams react to him.

"I like to go out and play with a lot of passion because that's fun, and I think that draws attention to the fans and the kids," Anderson said. "You know the kids love it. I'm on deck now, I get from the fans, 'Hey, do the bat flip.' So it's cool stuff, and it's all fun stuff. It's nothing to disrespect anybody, but I think it's a part of the game or it should be."

Not everyone in baseball shares his opinion. Anderson's bat flip after a home run against the Kansas City Royals on April 17 led to him being hit in the backside with a 92 mph fastball one plate appearance later. After Anderson was hit by the pitch, he stepped toward the mound and the benches cleared.

Anderson, 25, said if he broke some unwritten rule, he was unaware of it.

"I don't really know the rules," he said. "There's not any for me. I can't call them dumb because I don't have any. ... Nobody really came to me and said these are the rules, so I really don't know what they are."

A week after the bat flip against the Royals, Anderson hit a walk-off homer to beat the Detroit Tigers 12-11 and punctuated it with a bat flip. He isn't worried that he might get payback for it later.

"I'm not bothered by other teams," he said. "I go in and I'm trying to beat the other teams. I could really care less how they feel about me or how they think of me as a player. But I know my teammates understand me. I'm going to go out every day and give them what I got."

Anderson, 25, has been one of the breakout stars of 2019, batting .331 with 6 home runs, 20 RBIs and an American League-leading 12 stolen bases and doing it all his own way.

He recently told Sports Illustrated: "I kind of feel like today's Jackie Robinson. That's huge to say. But it's cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I'm getting to a point to where I need to change the game."

That comment earned him some criticism, but he brushes that off as well.

"When I said it, I was saying it in a jokingly way," he said. "I had said that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. I was saying that I feel like Jackie Robinson, I need to break the fun barrier. And I think that kind of got pulled out and thrown into the main topic of things. The people that know me kind of understand me. And I don't think I really have to explain anything to the people that don't understand me."

Anderson, who was named the AL Player of the Month in April, says he doesn't really follow baseball news. He wasn't aware that Oakland's Mike Fiers had pitched a no-hitter Tuesday night, he said.

"I'm not really logged into the baseball world. I try to stay away from it. You know I play the game, but that's about it, I leave it at that," Anderson said, adding with a laugh. "Man, it's a boring sport."

Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo earned a place in baseball's history books with a major league first on Wednesday.

Gallo hit a two-run shot into the Allegheny River in the third inning of the Rangers' 9-6 win at the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs before reaching 100 singles (he has 93).

The blast, estimated at 443 feet, was Gallo's 100th career home run in his 377th game, making him the fastest player to 100 homers in American League history.

"Yeah, that's pretty crazy," Gallo said. "Like, if you would have told me that I would do that three years ago, I would think you were crazy. Pretty cool accomplishment, honestly. Be in the history books forever, so that's pretty special."

In setting the American League record, Gallo surpassed Mark McGwire, who hit his 100th homer in his 393rd game with the Oakland Athletics. Ryan Howard owns the major league record, recording his 100th in his 325th game with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before Gallo hit his 100th, the player with the fewest singles in reaching that milestone was journeyman first baseman Russell Branyan, who had 172 singles when he hit his 100th home in 2004 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gallo, 25, made his MLB debut in 2015 with the Rangers. Wednesday's blast was his 12th homer this season.

The Chicago Cubs have recalled Addison Russell, who will start at second base and bat eighth Wednesday night against the Miami Marlins. It will be his first game since Sept. 19.

Russell, 25, was suspended 40 games in September for violating the league's domestic abuse policy after an investigation into allegations of emotional, verbal and physical abuse made by his ex-wife, Melisa Reidy.

In 130 games last season, Russell hit .250 with 51 runs scored and 38 RBIs. Russell played 12 games at Triple-A Iowa before the recall, batting .222 with three home runs and 13 RBIs.

The Cubs said they have been monitoring Russell's mandated counseling and are calling his return to the Cubs a "conditional second chance."

The move comes as Ben Zobrist takes an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons.

The Cubs also placed reliever Pedro Strop on the injured list with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and activated left-handed reliever Mike Montgomery.

World and British Open titles crown career of the greatest British female player of he modern era
By ALAN THATCHER and SEAN REUTHE

England’s former world champion Laura Massaro has announced that she will retire from professional squash at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Preston-based Massaro, 35, is the most successful female English player of the modern era and, in 2014, became the first Englishwoman in 15 years to lift the PSA World Championship title.

She also won the historic British Open twice, ending a 22-year wait for a female English player in 2013, while she captured her second British Open crown in 2017, becoming the first Englishwoman since 1951 to win squash’s longest-running tournament on two occasions.

The only Englishwoman to win both the World Championship and British Open titles – trophies which she held at the same time – Massaro also topped the PSA Women’s World Rankings for four months in 2016, making her one of just three female English players to hold the No.1 ranking.

A tough, uncompromising player, Massaro has always made life difficult for her opponents. Playing a brand of hard, high-paced, pressure squash, she has thrived on the adrenalin of big-match occasions where her discipline and dedication have shone through. 

Massaro has been ever-present in the world’s top 10 since May 2008 and, since turning professional in 2000, has won 23 PSA Tour titles from 43 finals, with her most recent trophy win coming at the Monte Carlo Classic last December, where she beat World No.9 Tesni Evans in the final.

Massaro has played 543 matches on the PSA Tour, winning 371 of them, and her final two PSA tournaments will be the Manchester Open – which begins tomorrow – and the Allam British Open as she brings the curtain down on a glittering career.

Away from the PSA Tour, Massaro also has three Commonwealth Games silver medals and four British Nationals titles to her name, while she led England to the Women’s World Team Championships crown in 2014 after four runner-up finishes at the tournament.

“I’ve been really lucky to have a healthy body, a really long career, and it’s probably been more that I’ve ever expected in terms of titles and my achievements in the game,” Massaro said.

“There’s no point in trying to chase the world’s best when my best level of squash is probably behind me, and it’s going to be very hard to get that back. I’ve always gone after being the best in the world and winning titles. But I think it’s time to hang up the racket, give a little bit back now and watch these amazing youngsters do their thing on court.

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“I’m hugely proud of what I achieved, I always wanted to be successful, I wanted to hang up my racket feeling that I couldn’t have achieved any more in the game than I have, whether it was titles or the level of play.

“That’s down to everyone that’s helped me in my career. There are too many people to mention, but DP [David Pearson] and Danny [husband Massaro] go without saying. I owe my level of squash to them, along with all the other coaches who have helped me on my way.

“They, along with the physios, fasciotherapists, Caroline, Jade, Vicky and Sylvan, have helped my movement be so efficient and given me my longevity, along with Mark Campbell, who has given me the strength and fitness to maintain my level. Without all of them, my career wouldn’t have been what it has been.

“I also want to say thank you to my family and friends who have been there supporting me in the ups and downs of my career since I was a young junior player.”

PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough said: “Laura has always been a consummate professional. Her success on the tour has been testament to her hard-work and unwavering mental strength.

“Laura has been an incredible role model for aspiring squash players, and everyone at the PSA wishes her well for the future.”

Massaro will appear as the No.5 and No.8 seed at this month’s Manchester Open and British Open, respectively.

The Manchester Open takes place between May 9-13 at the National Squash Centre, while the British Open will be held between May 20-26 at the University of Hull’s new sports complex.

Laura Massaro Biography:

Date of birth: 2nd November 1983 (age 35)
Birthplace: Great Yarmouth, UK
Resides: Preston, Lancashire, UK
Plays: Right-handed
Coaches: David Pearson (DP) and Danny Massaro (husband)

Laura Massaro Achievements:

World Champion – 2014 Penang, Malaysia (first Englishwoman to win the title for 15 years)
World No.1 – January 2016
World Series Finals Champion – 2016 & 2017 Dubai
British Open Champion – 2013 & 2017 Hull (2013 became the first English woman to win the title in 22 years, in 2017 became the first Englishwoman since 1951 to win the title twice)
US Open Champion – 2011, 2015
Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist – 2010 Doubles, 2014 Singles & Doubles
British National Champion – 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017
23 Professional Tour Titles

FOOTNOTE: What’s your favourite Laura Massaro match? Readers are invited to comment below. 
 

Pictures courtesy of PSA, England Squash and Patrick Lauson

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Australian driver James McFadden will fill in for Kasey Kahne in the Wicked Energy Gum No. 9 car for the next several races.

McFadden will debut in the No. 9 machine at the World of Outlaws Patriot Nationals in Charlotte on May 24-25.

Kahne, who is recovering from an injury sustained in a crash at Williams Grove Speedway earlier this season, will continue to be hands-on with the car and travel with the team.

An exact return date for Kahne to climb back behind the wheel will be announced at a later date.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino said he could leave the club and "go home" if they manage to win the Champions League this season.

Spurs could reach their first ever Champions League final if they overturn a 1-0 deficit against Ajax in the semifinal second-leg on Wednesday.

Pochettino, who has guided Spurs to three consecutive top three Premier League finishes, hinted that he is prepared to walk away from the club if he manages to secure European success.

"Winning the Champions League? It would be fantastic, no? Close the five-year chapter and go home," he told a news conference.

"To win the Champions League with Tottenham, in this circumstance, in this season, maybe I need to think a little bit to do something different in the future, for sure. Because to repeat this miracle, you know."

Pochettino had been heavily linked with the Manchester United job before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed manager on a permanent basis in March.