Follow ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the warm-up stage of the 2019 World Cup. If the blog doesn't load, please refresh the page.

Dale Steyn will not be available for Thursday's World Cup opener between South Africa and England at The Oval. And he may only be ready in time for South Africa's third game of the tournament, against India on June 5 - even that coach Ottis Gibson seemed to suggest was not a nailed-on certainty at the moment.

Steyn has not yet recovered fully from the shoulder injury which cut short his IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore. He did train with the squad on Tuesday, but only jogged in to bowl off a very short run-up and with no real pace. He then walked off the field fairly early in the session though he did come out to bat later.

"He's not quite ready yet," Gibson said. "He's not far away but not ready yet. We think with a 6-week tournament there's no real need to force the issue."

Steyn has not bowled in a game yet in England. He was in the 15 for the warm-up against West Indies but South Africa batted first before the game was rained off. He wasn't in the line-up for the game against Sri Lanka.

Steyn has not bowled competitively since pulling out of Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL campaign in late April, having played only two games there. That was because of an inflammation in his right shoulder, the same one in which he snapped a bone back in November 2016.

Steyn's fitness and availability has been the subject of much scrutiny since he returned from India. He had already been named in South Africa's World Cup squad at that point, on the back of a successful and uninterrupted home season.

But even until the day before the team's departure for England, there was uncertainty about whether he would be in from the first game. And now, it isn't entirely clear when he will be back, Gibson admitting that they hadn't yet identified a date when he could return.

"We know that he's close and he's getting closer every day," Gibson said. "We'll give him as much time as we can to get ready. We're hoping if not Sunday [when they play Bangladesh at The Oval] then possibly by India."

Steyn's absence means South Africa will choose a replacement from among the allrounders Chris Morris, Dwayne Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo to support a pace attack spearheaded by Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. The latter pair are, happily for South Africa, fit and ready to play, having overcome injury issues of their own in the run-up to the tournament.

"We looked at the pitch today and it's got a tinge of green to it," Gibson said. "I suspect over the next two days that might change. At the moment we have three allrounders - Morris, Phehlukwayo and Pretorius - one of those three could come into the equation and we also got [Tabraiz] Shamsi, he could also come in to the equation."

Offensive lineman Richie Incognito has signed with the Oakland Raiders, according to his agent.

Ken Sarnoff tweeted about Incognito's signing Tuesday morning.

Incognito has not played in the NFL since 2017, when he announced he was retiring from the league. He said earlier this year that he was looking to return to football.

He had a workout with the Raiders earlier this month.

Incognito played for the Buffalo Bills from 2015-2017, appearing in the Pro Bowl each season. The controversial guard was at the center of a 2013 investigation into the bullying of former Miami Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin, which led to a suspension for Incognito and his not playing during the 2014 season.

Amadou Gallo Fall was named the president of the NBA's new Basketball Africa League on Tuesday.

Fall has been the NBA vice president and managing director for Africa. The Senegal native will begin his role as the Basketball Africa League (BAL) president immediately while aiding in the transition and hiring of a new managing director of NBA Africa. The BAL, a new professional basketball league showcasing 12 teams from different leagues across Africa, is scheduled to begin play in 2020.

"I am extremely excited about the opportunity," Fall said. "I am grateful for the trust that NBA commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum have given me to lead this new initiative for the NBA in Africa that is also affiliated with FIBA. We're looking forward to getting it off the ground. We're working closely with FIBA to build a compelling property. There is tremendous opportunity to grow the game of basketball in Africa, which is why we opened our office in 2010.

"In the close to 10 years that we've been on the ground, we've made a lot of progress. We have a robust grassroots infrastructure."

The BAL is the first basketball league operated by the NBA outside of North America. Its arrival was announced by Fall during the NBA All-Star 2019 Africa Luncheon in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 16. The BAL will begin with the top professional clubs from leagues in Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. Teams will travel to one site at a time to compete in a set number of games, a source previously told The Undefeated.

Nearly 45 games total are expected to be played in the BAL beginning in January 2020, concluding with a championship game in March. Champions from six leagues will make up half of the teams while the other 12 will be chosen by FIBA. Fall called the BAL "the missing link" for the NBA in Africa.

"We're looking forward to now building the entire ecosystem," Fall said. "And that is what we think the Basketball Africa League is going to allow us to do in continuing to provide tremendous young talent across the continent to showcase themselves. We need to continue to grow to create an entertainment property for our fans across the Africa region."

Tatum has previously described the BAL as an African basketball version of the popular Champions League in European soccer. He also touted Fall as a great choice to run the BAL.

"Amadou's efforts to grow basketball and the NBA's business across Africa have been extraordinary, and he is an ideal choice to lead the Basketball Africa League," Tatum said in a statement. "This historic initiative will not only further enhance the game in Africa but also provide new opportunities in media, technology and infrastructure on the continent."

Fall first was hired by the NBA in January 2010 to lead efforts to open the NBA's office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May 2010. The former University of District of Columbia center also led efforts for the NBA's grassroots basketball development initiatives and partnerships with marketing, media and consumer product companies in Africa and with the Jr. NBA and Basketball Without Borders program in Africa. Under Fall's guidance, NBA Africa games in Johannesburg in 2015 and 2017 and in Pretoria in 2018 have all been sold out while supporting such charities as UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and SOS Children's Villages South Africa.

With Fall leading the way, the NBA expects to reach more than 2.5 million boys and girls ages 16 and under through Jr. NBA programs in 21 African countries.

"The game is growing in Africa and the interest will continue to rise," Fall said.

Fall previously worked for the Dallas Mavericks as director of player personnel and vice president of international affairs. The magna cum laude graduate of a historically black college and university was inducted into the UDC Athletics Hall of Fame on Feb. 15. Fall also founded the SEED (Sports for Education and Economic Development) project in Senegal in 1998 and the SEED Academy.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo called Fall "a son of the continent" and an outstanding hire to run the BAL.

"I am so excited for my brother, my friend and my colleague," Mutombo, a former NBA star from the Republic of Congo, told The Undefeated. "He is someone that I've known for a long time, for 30-plus years. We have worked extremely hard to change the game in the continent of Africa. It's a great decision on behalf of the NBA to appoint someone who is the son of the continent who has seen basketball develop in the continent. He has participated in the growing of the game and making sure every kid gets access to the game.

"We now have all the tools necessary to help kids become better basketball players. By him taking over this job, it's just the new beginning of the great success to come."

RJ Hampton, the No. 5 prospect in the ESPN 100 class of 2019, has signed a contract with the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League, he announced on ESPN's Get Up on Tuesday.

Hampton becomes the first American player to willingly forgo college for playing international basketball, unlike players such as Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay and Terrance Ferguson, who signed overseas amid concerns regarding their academic or amateur status.

"My No. 1 goal is to play in the NBA," Hampton told ESPN. "I wanted to be an NBA player before I ever wanted to be a college player. This is about getting ready for the next level faster and more efficiently.

"Both of my parents went to college. My mom got her master's degree. Education is a big thing in our family, but this is about focusing 100 percent on basketball. You can always go back to college, but there's only a short window as an athlete where you can play professional basketball, and I want to take advantage of that. I think that challenging yourself on a daily basis is the best way to improve."

Hampton's move comes as a surprise after he cut his college recruitment list in recent days to Kansas, Memphis and Texas Tech. He had also previously considered scholarship offers from Duke, Kentucky and others.

Hampton is currently projected as the No. 6 pick in the ESPN 2020 mock draft. His positional size at 6-foot-5 and 188 pounds with a 6-foot-8 wingspan -- as well as his creativity changing speeds, operating out of pick-and-rolls and finding teammates on the move -- gives him potentially the highest upside of any guard in the class. He will likely be scouted heavily by NBA executives all season in the Australian NBL, as he is expected to play a featured role with the Breakers. The team has won four league titles in the past nine years and is partially owned by four-time NBA All-Star Shawn Marion, as well as ex-Florida player Matt Walsh, who spent time with the Miami Heat.

"Signing a player of RJ's caliber is a monumental undertaking that we don't take lightly at the Breakers," Walsh told ESPN. "His family has entrusted us with their son spending one of the most important years in his development in New Zealand, and we are going to do everything we can as an organization to ensure that he reaches his goal of being a high draft pick and prepare him as best as we can to come in ready to make an impact in the NBA."

Hampton, who lives in Dallas, told ESPN that watching international basketball phenom Luka Doncic with the Mavericks this season helped him realize the merits of exploring alternative development paths.

"Luka Doncic is one of my favorite players to watch," Hampton told ESPN. "I started following him two years before he was drafted and watched at least 10 games of his this season. Seeing how he came into the NBA and being arguably the best rookie in the NBA shows you that you don't have to go to college to be successful. Playing professionally against men helped him get to where he is now. He's not the fastest or most athletic guy, but he gets where he wants on the floor and reads defenses better than almost any player in the NBA."

Hampton's signing into the NBL on a multiyear deal, with NBA out clauses, is a major boon to the league. The groundwork for this move was laid by Ferguson opting not to go to college at Arizona to sign with Adelaide, and eventually becoming the No. 21 pick in the 2017 NBA draft. That caused the NBL to launch the "Next Stars" program last year to attract more players in Ferguson's mold. Hampton will not count against the New Zealand Breakers' league-mandated quota of three import players, and he will also have part of his salary subsidized by the NBL.

"The NBL is looking to do this more and more now with players in my situation," Hampton told ESPN. "I'm being put in a situation that is centered around me being successful and accomplishing my dream of getting to the next level. The Breakers were the best team for me. Their owners played in the NBA, and they told me their goal is to help me have a great experience in New Zealand and ultimately a great career in the NBA. The fact that I'll be able to play two preseason games against NBA teams in October was very attractive. I'll be able to get a little taste of the atmosphere and how NBA games are played, which should expedite my development."

Hampton's agent, Happy Walters, has experience with placing draft prospects in the NBL, as he represented Ferguson in 2017 when he signed with Adelaide. Hampton will now automatically become eligible for the 2020 NBA draft due to signing a professional contract out of an American high school.

"I think RJ is well-equipped to succeed in the NBL because he views it as a learning process in his ultimate step to becoming a star in the NBA," Walters told ESPN. "He understands that statistics don't matter when NBA teams consider prospects. Talent, mental toughness and upside are the key factors. Playing professional basketball as an 18-year-old will enable this development."

The CEO of the NBL, Jeremy Loeliger, told ESPN that he is hopeful that Hampton's signing will attract other elite prospects to consider spending a year or more in Australia or New Zealand before taking the next step to the NBA.

"We are delighted that RJ has chosen to spend the season with the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL as part of the Next Stars program and look forward to watching him develop on his way to a career in the NBA," Loeliger told ESPN. "The Next Stars program offers young athletes an alternative pathway to the NBA if they don't want to go to college. We want to play a part in making these young men the best that they can be in preparation for the NBA draft. The NBL is a world-class league and a great way to launch a professional career. Having a player of RJ's caliber join will help attract other players and bring the league and other players to the attention of NBA scouts."

IN THE WEEKS after the Los Angeles Lakers' 2016-17 season ended in mid-April, with the franchise failing to reach the postseason for the fourth consecutive year, more than 30 Lakers staffers -- largely from basketball operations -- gathered at the team's practice facility in El Segundo, California.

Before them were Rob Pelinka and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who had been formally introduced in March 2017 as the Lakers' new front-office leaders -- with Johnson, an iconic player from the team's 1980s "Showtime" era, serving as its president of basketball operations, and Pelinka, who had famously served as Kobe Bryant's agent, as the general manager.

Neither possessed front-office experience but were chosen by Lakers president and governor Jeanie Buss, who had fired the organization's longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak and, separately, her brother Jim in February 2017.

This gathering would serve as one of Pelinka and Johnson's initial attempts to address the basketball operations staff in a more formal setting -- and to make an impression regarding their managerial style.

In his remarks, Johnson expressed excitement about the task ahead, but he also made clear he didn't accept excuses or mistakes, and that those who weren't on board with the new management and their mission should leave, according to six staffers who were present.

Pointing upstairs, toward his office, Johnson drove home his point. He had a large stack of resumes sitting on his desk -- "a thousand" of them, multiple staffers recall him saying -- and he could replace any of them at any time.

"It was shocking," said one Lakers coaching staff member who was present. "If you're going to be in this business, you bring enough pressure on yourself. You don't need more pressure, especially from someone who's supposed to be an ally."

The message would set the tone for what many staffers describe as Johnson's confrontational demeanor over the next two years. "If you questioned him on anything, his response was always a threatening tone," said a Lakers front office staffer who interacted with Johnson directly. "He used intimidation and bullying as a way of showing authority."

When Pelinka and Johnson ascended to their posts, there was talk of a new beginning, the start of returning the Lakers to greatness. The era was even given a sleek brand: Lakers 2.0.

But the era was short-lived, culminating in Johnson's sudden resignation during an impromptu news conference on April 9. He cited "backstabbing and "whispering" as reasons for his abrupt departure. In just over two years, what was deemed a bold front-office experiment had failed.

During the nearly hour-long session with reporters in the halls of Staples Center mere minutes before the Lakers played their final game of the season -- a loss -- Johnson made tepid remarks about his working relationship with Pelinka, who would now be alone in attempting to chart a new path forward for the team.

Forty-one days later, Johnson's remarks about Pelinka would sharpen. In an appearance on ESPN's First Take, Johnson admitted that the duplicity and deceit were coming from none other than Pelinka, his general manager.

"I start hearing, 'Magic, you are not working hard enough. Magic's not in the office,'" Johnson told First Take. "People around the Laker office were telling me Rob was saying things. ... So I started getting calls from my friends outside of basketball saying those things now were said to them outside of basketball, now just not in the Lakers' office anymore."

The conversation continued, but ESPN's Stephen A. Smith wanted to circle back to comments about backstabbing.

"Does Magic Johnson feel betrayed, and if so, by whom?" Smith asked.

"If you are going to talk betrayal," Johnson replied, "it's only with Rob."

On the court, the Lakers missed the playoffs in LeBron James' first season with the team, ending his streak of eight consecutive NBA Finals appearances. Virtually all of the Lakers' young talent was publicly dangled in trade talks for superstar Anthony Davis, sowing mistrust between those players and management -- and between those players and James. Johnson and Pelinka allowed James' management team what was considered unusual access by many people around the team and league. And tensions boiled over in an early February locker room blow-up. All of it put the organization in a near-constant state of disarray, as epitomized on the night of their final regular-season game, when Johnson resigned without telling anyone in the organization, including Buss. Three days later, coach Luke Walton and the organization agreed to part ways.

After Walton's departure, the resulting head coach search, led by Pelinka, proved rocky -- with the Lakers' top two candidates -- Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams -- turning down the job before Frank Vogel accepted. (Williams took the same position with the Phoenix Suns, and the Lakers' negotiations with Lue, who was said to be their top candidate, broke down late in the process.) Multiple staffers described the aftermath of these moves as leaving the organization in a state of "shock" and "confusion."

According to nearly two dozen current and former team staffers, ranging from occupants of executive suites to office cubicles, in addition to league sources and others close to the team, the Lakers under Johnson and Pelinka were fraught with dysfunction, on and off the court. These sources, who feared reprisal and weren't authorized to speak publicly, describe Pelinka and Johnson as managers who made unilateral free-agent acquisitions; triggered a spate of tampering investigations and fines; berated staffers, including Walton; and created an in-house culture that many current and former longtime staffers said marginalized their colleagues, inspired fear and led to feelings of anxiety severe enough that at least two staffers suffered panic attacks.

As one ex-Lakers star privately told confidants, "It's f----ng crazy over there."

ON JUNE 26, 2018, Johnson and Pelinka gathered at the team facility to introduce their latest draft picks. Sitting side by side, along with Moritz Wagner and Svi Mykhailiuk, the two executives shared enthusiasm about their newest Lakers. Then, late in the news conference, Johnson made headlines: The Lakers would sign star free agents that summer or the next, he said -- or he would resign.

"If I can't deliver, I'm going to step down myself," he said. "[Jeanie Buss] won't have to fire me."

How would he do it? "I'm Magic Johnson."

Not a week after Johnson's declaration, Klutch Sports, the agency that represents LeBron James, announced the four-time NBA MVP and three-time champion would sign a four-year deal worth $154 million to join the Lakers. Pelinka called James' signing "the ultimate validation for what we are building here," while Johnson said L.A. had taken "a huge step" toward returning to the playoffs and Finals.

In the aftermath of signing James, Lakers management, tasked with building a roster around him, nabbed mercurial veterans -- guards Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson, center JaVale McGee and forward Michael Beasley. The signings were criticized publicly, though Pelinka defended them. And James, who was consulted on the deals, signed off.

"We all had the same reaction that the basketball world did, like what the f--- are we doing? Not only are we not getting shooting, but we're also getting every basket case left on the market." Lakers coaching staff member on Los Angeles' 2018 offseason

But coaching staffers and others in basketball operations said Pelinka and Johnson made the signings while seeking little to no consultation from them, even forgoing gathering intel from staffers who had previously worked with some of the players they had signed. Some employees learned of the signings through media reports. A Lakers spokesperson said Pelinka and Johnson consulted with everyone in the front office but that decisions ultimately rested with them.

"We all had the same reaction that the basketball world did, like what the f--- are we doing?" one Lakers coaching staff member told ESPN. "Not only are we not getting shooting, but we're also getting every basket case left on the market."

"We were all confused," a front office staffer said. "All of it made no sense."

PELINKA AND JOHNSON didn't hire Walton; they inherited him. Still, on the day they were introduced in their new roles, Johnson endorsed the former Lakers player who had previously been an assistant in Golden State (and for half of the Warriors' 73-win 2015-16 season as the interim coach), calling Walton "the right man for the job."

In September, five months after the Lakers went 35-47 in Johnson's first season with the team, Johnson told reporters he had preached patience to Walton, saying, "Don't worry if we get out to a bad start." But by Oct. 30, with the Lakers holding a 3-5 record, Johnson berated Walton in a closed-door meeting, the details of which became public in an ESPN report by Adrian Wojnarowski.

Walton, according to members of the coaching staff and a source close to him, wasn't clear why the organization had changed its message 13 days into the 2018-19 campaign.

In November, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Maverick Carter, LeBron's longtime business partner, met for lunch. James' agent, Rich Paul, was seated at a nearby table, and at one point, approached Silver to complain about Walton, multiple sources familiar with the interaction told ESPN. Paul said he didn't believe Walton was the right coach for the Lakers. Silver shrugged off the remark and asked whom Paul thought would be the right coach. Paul suggested Tyronn Lue.

Paul was also letting it be known through back-channel conversations, including those with reporters, that he wasn't on board with Walton. Paul criticized how Walton allotted minutes to players and his inconsistent lineups, which were partly the result of injuries and suspensions. Members of the Lakers' coaching staff became aware of those conversations and wondered whether Johnson's heated meeting with Walton was influenced by Paul.

"Coaches know Rich is trying to get them fired, and players know Rich is trying to get them traded." An agent with ties to the Lakers on Rich Paul

That an NBA head coach would face criticism from an agent or associates of star players is not rare, nor was it new for a head coach to face pressure with James on the roster. It's also not unusual for teams in any professional sport -- and certainly the NBA -- to make accommodations for superstars. For example, three people close to James are listed in the Lakers' staff directory as employees: Robert Brown, whose title is personal security officer; Randy Mims, whose title is executive administrator, player program & logistics; and Mike Mancias, whose title is athletic trainer & athletic performance liaison. All three were also on the team payroll with James in Cleveland.

Still, under Pelinka and Johnson, the Lakers began allowing more access -- to the team and around the facility -- to players' agents than prior leadership, Lakers front-office staffers, coaching staff members, agents and other sources close to the team said. One Lakers front-office executive applauded the change, saying the Lakers had been behind the times and weren't giving agents the basic level of access that other teams were granting.

Yet when Paul, who represented Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope prior to the team signing James, was seen at the facility during the 2017-18 season, his presence created an uneasy feeling among some coaching staffers and others close to Walton who knew the Lakers were also pursuing Paul's biggest client, James.

"It was clear to us that he was scouting [Walton's viability as the head coach] -- and Luke is aware of this," said one member of the Lakers coaching staff who was present at the facility.

In that same season, Caldwell-Pope was allowed to practice and play with the team while serving a 25-day jail sentence for violating the terms of his probation stemming from a DUI charge -- a decision that, multiple team staffers said, caused unrest in the franchise. Caldwell-Pope was allowed to leave the Seal Beach Police Department Detention Center to attend practice and Lakers games in California as part of a work-release program, but he wasn't allowed to travel outside the state, resulting in him missing one game in Cleveland, one in Minneapolis and two in Houston. In all, Caldwell-Pope missed four games while serving his jail sentence but played in nine, starting each one.

"Anybody [else] would have put him on personal leave or suspended him," one coaching staff member said.

"I had a major problem with that," a Lakers front-office executive said.

When asked why Caldwell-Pope played during this time, a Lakers spokesperson said they were simply following the judge's work-release ruling. Staffers within the organization and sources close to the team say they believe it was because the Lakers were trying to curry favor with Klutch in their efforts to sign James the following summer in free agency.

Coaching staff and others close to the team told ESPN there would continue to be an increased presence by Paul and Klutch Sports in ways that seemed strange to them. For instance, three Lakers sources familiar with team travel details independently told ESPN that Paul rode on the Lakers' charter plane on multiple occasions this season, an act that front-office executives, other NBA general managers and other agents around the league said is highly unusual -- if not unheard of.

Paul didn't deny to ESPN that he had ridden on the Lakers' team charter, though he said he also did so while James played in Cleveland and Miami. Sources who rode on those team charters while James played there dispute that claim.

A Lakers spokesperson confirmed that Paul has ridden on the team charter, though he said it happened only once -- on a one-way cross-country flight -- after Paul had travel complications. The Lakers wouldn't specify when this flight occurred but said Walton was given the opportunity to deny Paul access to the charter, but he declined to do so.

And so the perception existed among the Lakers' coaching staff that Paul sought to oust Walton. And some players also believed, according to coaching staff members and those players' agents, that Klutch Sports was working to trade them away for a superstar. Given those perceptions, one former Lakers player described Paul's presence on the team charter as a "culture killer."

"Coaches know Rich is trying to get them fired, and players know Rich is trying to get them traded," said one agent with ties to the Lakers, who called Paul's presence on the plane "destructive."

Given Klutch's access, rival agents -- even those representing players on the roster -- said they were wary of allowing young clients to join the Lakers, fearing they'd be recruited or poached.

Why all of these disparate events occurred or were allowed to occur became a topic of conversation at various levels of the organization. The general consensus? Inexperience on the part of management.

"Rob and Magic have never done this job, they have no idea how to do it, let alone how to do it in the space with those guys [from Klutch Sports]," said one NBA front-office executive who worked with James on a different team.

"He comes off to the fan base with the big love and the smile. But he's not -- he's a fear monger." ex-Lakers athletic training official on Magic Johnson

When contacted by ESPN, Paul denied every allegation against him except riding on the team charter. Paul declined to publicly comment beyond those denials, providing a statement instead: "I understand my position. I respect all those in our industry. At the end of the day, all I can do is continue to do a job for my client. That's it. I can't worry about what somebody thinks, the perception. All I can do is work hard and continue down the path that I'm on."

Adam Mendelsohn, a longtime media adviser to James, also provided a statement: "Rich's access and influence is no different than any other elite agent. It's a convenient narrative to suggest anonymously that it was unique to him. But anyone in the NBA knows that's just how the NBA media game works."

A FEW DAYS before the Feb. 7 trade deadline, with so many players involved in trade talks for Anthony Davis, the Lakers endured a locker-room blow-up after a loss in Golden State. ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that Walton had criticized specific players -- Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee -- for playing selfishly, and those players answered back at their coach.

In the end, after weeks of rumors, no agreement for Davis was struck, but the impact of having so many of their players dangled in trade talks damaged team chemistry, according to coaches, agents and others close to the team.

Multiple coaching staff members and sources close to specific players said the players' trust in management had all but evaporated -- and that players also felt, fairly or not, that James was complicit.

"Guys know there's no trust there," one Lakers coaching staff member told ESPN before the season ended. "Guys know the new [administration] has completely bent over to the agent world and were overly sensitive to having these one-sided relationships with these guys where they kind of control our every move because we're 'big-game hunting.'"

Soon after the trade deadline, Johnson addressed the team in Philadelphia, though his message to the players fell flat, according to members of the coaching staff and others close to the team. And the displeasure didn't end there. According to multiple staffers, those in and around the organization were dismayed by Johnson's comments to the media in Philadelphia on the same day.

"Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that's what you're treating them like," Johnson said then. "They're professionals. All of them. And this is how this league works. They know it, I know it -- that's how it goes."

Johnson also said he believed the New Orleans Pelicans operated in bad faith during negotiations for Davis. "We knew that basically at the end of the day, what happened, happened," he said.

Said one Lakers front-office staffer: "What wasn't in good faith? We proposed something and they turned it down. It's very arrogant on our part."

Meanwhile, considerable doubt remained within the Lakers organization over the ability of Pelinka and Johnson to plot a path toward contention.

As that same front-office staffer said before Johnson's resignation, "I don't think we have a plan."

ON MARCH 10, 2017, the day he was introduced as the team's new GM, Pelinka was asked about the steepest learning curve in his new role.

"This franchise consists of 200-250 employees," Pelinka said, "and our job is to make sure that all of those team members are functioning as a well-oiled machine and together."

Johnson, sitting beside Pelinka, added that they were evaluating everybody in the organization. "We're going to see if we have the best people," he said, "and hopefully we do in house, and if not, we just have to get the right people."

As Johnson and Pelinka foreshadowed, change would follow. At least two dozen staffers throughout the organization would depart, a figure that includes not only basketball operations and coaching staffers but also athletic training officials, analytics staffers, administrative assistants, the team's equipment manager and the head athletic trainer.

In the Lakers' 2016-17 media guide, the directory lists 72 staffers who aren't a part of the ownership group. That figure does not include players, cheerleaders, security members, ball boys, interns, outside consultants, team broadcasters, players and coaches of the team's development league team, among others; nor does it include the six Buss family members listed in various positions throughout the franchise. Of those 72, at least 27 are, as of this date, no longer with the organization, a turnover rate of 37.5 percent.

Some executives in other NBA organizations -- including general managers -- have expressed surprise at the number of departures, even for a top-down administration change.

"That's like saying no one there is any good," one rival front-office executive told ESPN.

A Lakers spokesperson said the team currently employs about 300 staffers but said it didn't have data immediately available of how many staffers have departed or have been replaced since Pelinka and Johnson were hired.

The spate of changes increased the workloads for several staff members -- and in one instance in 2017, a longtime female staffer was called into an office with Johnson and Pelinka after making a mistake, according to multiple staffers present and others familiar with the incident. The mistake, sources said, involved arranging a car service to the team's facility for a draft prospect.

"I don't stand for mistakes!" Johnson shouted at her. "I don't make mistakes."

Johnson also made clear, according to multiple people familiar with the exchange, that if the staffer made one more mistake, she would be fired.

In the office, the staffer apologized and later, off site, began to cry, according to multiple people with knowledge of the incident. In the months ahead, she would suffer increased anxiety and panic attacks. She was prescribed anti-anxiety medication, quit the Lakers after more than two decades with the team, and began several weeks of therapy, multiple people familiar with the matter said. She gave her notice on Dec. 18, 2017, the same day Kobe Bryant's two jerseys were retired.

A Lakers executive said he also suffered panic attacks and had to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication. "Every day you go in there and you get this horrible feeling of anxiety," the executive said. "In the last year, I can't tell you how many panic attacks I've had from the s--- that has happened there."

Multiple current and former Lakers staffers who interacted directly with Johnson would describe a striking duality to his personality. One ex-staffer noted that when Johnson was present, there was often a question of who employees would face that day: Would they see Magic? Or would it be Earvin? The cameras love Magic, the charismatic one, but there was also Earvin, who could be manipulative and impulsive.

"It was a roller-coaster ride of up and down with him," one coaching staff member said.

Current and former team staffers told ESPN that Johnson, who has business interests outside the Lakers, was frequently absent, sometimes appearing only once a week or every two weeks. But, these same people said, when Johnson was there, he could make his presence known in a demonstrative way.

"He comes off to the fan base with the big love and the smile," said one ex-Lakers athletic training official who interacted directly with Johnson. "But he's not -- he's a fear monger."

A Lakers spokesperson said Johnson wasn't reprimanded for unprofessional workplace behavior and that no official complaints were filed. The NBA also has not received complaints about Johnson through its confidential hotline or through any other means, a league spokesperson said, nor has the league investigated the Lakers in the past two seasons for issues related to its workplace environment.

Several Lakers staffers, both current and former, said they didn't feel comfortable going to the team's human resources department with complaints because they feared reprisal and doubted complaints would make an impact. Several staffers said that feeling represented a general consensus in the office.

While with the team, Johnson declined an interview request for this story. Since departing, he declined another request. But on the night Johnson resigned, he publicly denied any unprofessional behavior with employees.

"Never disrespected nobody, never did anything bad," Johnson said. "Now, am I tough? Hell yeah, I am. You work for me, I'm demanding. That's who I am. But at the same time, I'm fair."

IN HIS INTRODUCTORY news conference in March 2017, Pelinka declared, "I'm a little bit of a storyteller by nature."

During the session, Pelinka quoted scripture. He compared joining the Lakers to "When Harry Met Sally." He talked about camping in Montana with Kobe Bryant. He talked about seeing a picture of a boy in a Syrian refugee camp wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey. He called Kobe Bryant a "North Star" and said Bryant's impact on the team was like sugar dissolving in coffee: "Once it's there, it's there forever."

He once called point guard Lonzo Ball "transcendent" and mentioned him alongside Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He compared the young Lakers' potential to Taylor Swift. After signing Caldwell-Pope, Pelinka again referenced the Bible. In a news conference after signing James, Pelinka put on glasses and started reading from Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist," noting that James had read it and that Bryant had also given him a copy.

Pelinka's penchant for "storytelling," multiple Lakers staffers told ESPN, is viewed as disingenuous -- at best.

One story shared around the organization unfolded in March 2018, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was addressing the team at the Lakers' practice facility as part of the franchise's "Genius Talks" series.

Standing beside Johnson, Pelinka told a story about his former client, Bryant.

"For him to covertly go to a player and go behind everybody else's back, that's the problem." Lakers coaching staff member on Rob Pelinka

"There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden, and he had just seen 'The Dark Knight,'" Pelinka said. "Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he's like, 'Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked into that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.' So, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role.

"And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks."

"The Dark Knight" was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died. A source with direct knowledge said no such arrangement was made and no dinner ever took place.

Another story took place on June 21, 2018, when Lakers staffers gathered at their practice facility for that year's NBA draft. The Lakers had two "war rooms" set up inside their training facility: Johnson and Pelinka were in one; front-office executives, scouts and others who had helped evaluate prospects were in another, according to multiple team staffers present.

As the Lakers neared their 25th pick in the first round, staff members in the second war room expected -- and, according to one basketball operations staffer present, were excited -- that they would select Villanova power forward Omari Spellman, who was the highest-ranked remaining player on the Lakers' draft board, according to multiple team staffers present. Instead, the Lakers took Wagner, the forward from Michigan. Sources said that inside the second war room, scouts and other staff members watched the pick on television and were shocked.

Later, Pelinka told staffers he had heard negatives about Spellman and that he had discussed the issues with Lakers forward Josh Hart, who had played at Villanova before Spellman. Hart, he said, agreed there were concerns. Staffers were taken aback, and some said it represented another instance of a unilateral decision being made by Pelinka or Johnson without the involvement of key figures who would normally be central to the decision. "For him to covertly go to a player and go behind everybody's else's back, that's the problem," one coaching staff member said.

It also represented what multiple basketball operations staffers said was one of several instances in which Pelinka was quick to say that others -- such as agents or players -- were at least partly if not wholly responsible for certain decisions, which staffers believe was Pelinka's way of deflecting blame and from taking ownership or responsibility.

Some staffers have even sought out those whom Pelinka has said he has spoken with, just to confirm whether such conversations took place. In this instance, a source close to Hart said the two spoke briefly, for less than a minute, and Hart offered that Spellman had a great work ethic, but he was concerned about his fitness. (A Lakers spokesperson said Pelinka and Johnson consulted with everyone in the front office but that the decision on whom to draft ultimately rested with them.)

Pelinka has also been known to sit in on pregame and halftime coaches' meetings, something staff members and other front-office executives -- including general managers -- said is irregular for an NBA GM.

"It's weird from the player's standpoint," a Lakers coaching staff member told ESPN. "The players are not able to open up and speak freely, because you've got the guy in the room who supposedly controls your future, so why would you open up and be honest and confrontational when that might be what is required for that moment?"

The staffer described those meetings by saying, "It's very quiet in there."

At least once, Walton addressed the issue with Pelinka, telling him that his presence was, at the very least, uncomfortable, coaching staff members said. Walton also pointed out to Pelinka that when he coached as an assistant at Golden State, Warriors GM Bob Myers didn't sit in on such meetings. Pelinka responded to Walton that he had communicated with Myers -- and that Myers was now, in the years since Walton's departure from Golden State, sitting in on these meetings. Sources in and around the Warriors' organization told ESPN that Myers does no such thing.

According to executives leaguewide, the flow and accuracy of information -- for scouting, potential trades, free agency, the draft, personnel hirings -- is paramount to team building, but current and former Lakers staffers, as well as others close to the team, expressed serious concerns about Pelinka's credibility. Pelinka, through a team spokesperson, declined multiple attempts to be interviewed for this story.

"We think, more often than not, he's not being truthful," a coaching staff member said. "That goes throughout the organization."

Johnson, in his comments on First Take on May 20, referenced Pelinka's reputation, saying, "When I took the job, you know how many agents called me and said you got to watch out for [Pelinka]?"

Those comments came hours before the Lakers introduced Frank Vogel as their new head coach. Facing rows of reporters, Pelinka called Johnson's claims "saddening" and "disheartening," adding that, "They're just simply not true."

When asked whether he's concerned about a perception around the league that he can't be trusted, Pelinka said: "My job is to not worry about what other people may think or say about me as a person. My job is to do the work and what's best for this franchise, and that's where my focus is.

"We all know in sports when you're winning, great things are said. When you're losing, the naysayers and the negativity comes out. That's just the nature of this business. And right now, we're coming off a season where we lost."

UNDER PREVIOUS LAKERS administrations, current and former staffers and team executives told ESPN, the team carefully followed league rules, with an emphasis on frequently reviewing the NBA's operations manual to make sure procedures were above board.

According to team staffers, that standard disappeared when Johnson and Pelinka ascended to their roles -- and it would become obvious when the team was disciplined three times in less than 12 months for tampering.

Initially, the NBA warned the Lakers after Johnson winked and made comments about Paul George during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in April 2017. George was under contract with the Indiana Pacers, and the NBA prohibits teams from interfering with other teams' contractual relationships with players, including publicly expressing interest in a player or informing a player's agent of your franchise's interest.

The Pacers filed tampering charges against the Lakers in August 2017, and the league found that Pelinka had been communicating with George's agent. The NBA fined the Lakers $500,000, the largest tampering fine in league history. Afterward, the Lakers, in a statement, swore they'd be "hyper-vigilant" in the future.

Then in February 2018, the Lakers were fined $50,000 for violating league tampering rules when Johnson discussed Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in an interview with ESPN.

A year later, Johnson said Philadelphia 76ers rising star Ben Simmons "reached out to me, not to me directly, to the Lakers to find out if we can get together this summer."

Johnson's comment on Simmons triggered a tampering investigation, but the NBA later announced the Lakers did not violate league rules. Still, the comment shocked staffers, several of them said, in no small part because of the tampering penalties they had previously incurred.

"It felt and still feels like they removed everyone from their immediate inner circle that would have knowledge of the rules and would have the balls to challenge them and say, 'Hey, we can't do that,'" one Lakers coaching staff member said.

JEANIE BUSS BELIEVES in fate.

More specifically, a source familiar with the inner workings of the Lakers who has been in direct contact with Buss told ESPN that Buss believed Johnson was meant to be in his role, that Pelinka was meant to be in his, that James was meant to be a Laker, and whoever is no longer with the organization wasn't meant to be there.

"It's not like she's in complete denial," the source said prior to Johnson's resignation. "But she doesn't give things the proper weight and attention, in my opinion, as she should."

Through a spokesperson, Jeanie Buss declined multiple requests for an interview.

One coaching staff member said they have "100 percent confidence" that Buss knows of general concerns within the organization, adding that they're aware of specific confidants -- including her siblings Jesse and Joey Buss, both executives with the team -- who "are continually telling her this stuff."

Still, multiple rival NBA executives have noted the unique nature of the Lakers -- that they are a family-owned, family-operated franchise, the only one of its kind in the league. And the familial nature of the franchise can be seen through many of its hirings; the team has employed many of those with deep ties to its past, such as Pelinka, Johnson, Walton, Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak.

Rival executives have defined this tendency as more of a weakness than a strength, specifically with respect to Pelinka and Johnson, noting that they were principally chosen not for their experience or qualifications but for their connection to Buss and the Lakers.

Multiple team staffers, as well as others close to the organization, cast doubt on the possibility of the team changing its pattern of "Lakers family" hirings or on overhauling the culture itself. As one source close to the coaching staff said of Buss, "She has accepted that this is who they are."

Regarding Pelinka's fate, front-office staffers, coaching staff members and others close to the team point to the power and influence held by Linda Rambis. Her title within the Lakers is executive director of special projects, but Rambis, the wife of former Laker Kurt Rambis, is better known within and around the organization as perhaps Jeanie Buss' closest friend and confidant. And Linda Rambis, team staffers said, has long been an ardent supporter and ally of Pelinka for reasons some staffers said they don't fully understand. "Nobody gets it," one coaching staff member said.

In some circles around the NBA, Linda Rambis has been referred to as a "shadow owner" of the Lakers, a title that one front-office staffer said Rambis enjoys, noting: "She loves it," and that "she controls and manipulates Jeanie." Kurt Rambis -- a Lakers senior basketball adviser and close associate of Phil Jackson, the former Lakers coach and Jeanie Buss' ex-fiance -- sat in on the team's coaching meetings throughout the season, creating a sense of unease. Staffers had already suspected he would report back to Linda and thus Pelinka and Buss, but a Lakers spokesperson insisted Walton invited Kurt Rambis to those meetings.

During a chaotic season, sources close to Walton described the coach as "frustrated," in part because of the instability around him. Following a practice more than a month before the season ended, Walton, who knew he would potentially be fired after the season, was asked by his coaching staff whether he would be better off leaving the team and its dysfunction behind, according to another team source.

Sources close to Walton said he wanted to make it work until the very end and was willing to stay if management wanted to keep him. But Walton also knew -- and told his staff in response to the question about his future -- that departing the Lakers had to be considered too. Walton joined the Sacramento Kings on April 13, one day after he left the Lakers. One week after the Kings officially announced his hiring, Walton was sued by a journalist who alleged he sexually assaulted her while Walton served as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.

Before Johnson departed, Buss said: "In terms of basketball decisions, I will always defer to Magic. He's brought a vision of the kind of team we're going to build and a vision of what Lakers basketball is going to be. And I think you can see that."

Less than one week later, Johnson announced his resignation without telling Buss first. After speaking with reporters for more than 40 minutes, Johnson walked toward the Staples Center loading dock, saying, "Now I've got to see if the boss is here."

Buss hadn't yet arrived.

Johnson continued to wait, speaking to reporters. Eventually, he was told Buss wasn't going to show. She wouldn't address reporters the following day during exit interviews at the team's facility either. When the team announced Walton's departure, her name was absent from the release; instead, it included a quote from Pelinka. And when the team introduced Vogel as Walton's replacement, she wasn't present and wouldn't address reporters.

Looking back to the day the Lakers appointed Johnson to his role, Buss, in a statement, referenced her late father and the team's patriarch owner, saying she believed her moves would "return the Lakers to the heights Dr. Jerry Buss demanded and our fans rightly expect."
 


Jerry Buss died in February 2013. In the six seasons since, during which Jeanie Buss has principally been in charge of the organization, the Lakers, with 329 losses, are tied with the New York Knicks for the most in the NBA.

"I feel like everyone that's no longer there, as sad as it is that they're no longer there, it's a blessing," one former staffer said. "It's not a good place to be. It's not what Dr. Buss wanted it to be."

NEW YORK -- Since Luke Voit was called up last August at the end of his most recent minor league stint, the New York Yankees have played 91 regular-season games.

Voit has appeared in nearly all of them.

As a result, his name has suddenly become as recognizable among the Yankees' fan base as Aaron Judge's, Giancarlo Stanton's, Gary Sanchez's and Didi Gregorius'.

The once-unknown first baseman hasn't just become one of the most identifiable faces on the team, he also has been a consistent presence in a Bronx Bombers lineup that, at least across the past 91 regular-season games, often has been without some of the aforementioned megastars. Key injuries at the end of last season and the start of this one have routinely depleted the roster.

But despite the various pains the Yankees have endured this spring, they somehow have one of the best records in all of baseball, and are leading the American League East.

Injuries aside, it has been business as usual.

"There's just been a good energy, consistently, day in and day out about the way these guys have gone about things," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Now that they have passed Memorial Day and are a third of the way through a season in which they've lacked most of their expected top contributors, one big question is: How have the Yankees done this?

Here's another: Who's the MVP, the man most responsible for keeping them afloat?

A strong case certainly could be made for Voit, the burly slugger who's tied for second on the team with 13 home runs. He has missed only one of the Yankees' 53 games to this point, splitting time at first base and designated hitter.

Batting lately out of the No. 2 hole normally occupied by Judge, Voit has been one of several saviors for the banged-up Bombers.

"He's brought so much to the table for us," Boone said. "Obviously between the lines, he's been really good. He's loved coming here and being a Yankee. They love him in that room. He brings something to the park every day, just from an energy standpoint, and we're so lucky to have him."

Voit brings so much energy during his home run trots that he left his teammates bewildered Saturday afternoon when he rather calmly glided around the bases after the 470-foot shot that he parked into a bush just below the outfield concourse at Kauffman Stadium.

Typically when he hits a no-doubter, Voit gives a little quick hop out of the batter's box, a la Sammy Sosa, before beginning his jog. Virtually any time he slaps a ball deep, other Yankees are on the lookout for the move.

This time, though, after he paused briefly to view the deep drive -- the longest homer of his three-season career, which was hit in his home state in front of about 60 family members and against the team that made him a 32nd-round draft pick out of high school -- Voit just put his head down and started running. There was no hop.

"Everyone was like, 'Why didn't you do the hop?'" Voit said, laughing. "I didn't mean anything bad [by admiring the homer], but it was one of those you don't hit very often."

Voit's most pressing short-term goal is a team one. He longs to finally see batting orders that resemble those used in last year's playoffs, ones that feature Judge, Stanton, Gregorius and Sanchez along with him.

"I'm super anxious for those guys to get back," Voit said.

Naturally, he believes each player's mere presence can help the Yankees win. But there is another reason he's eager to have them back in the lineup.

"Because I might be able to see more fastballs than what I'm seeing," he said.

It's true. Since Judge joined the injured list April 21, Voit has seen fastballs on 33.2 percent of the pitches thrown to him. That's just below the league average of 35.4 percent, and it's way below the 47.1 percent he saw while Judge was healthy and helping protect him in the order. Constantly fed fastballs during that three-week, early-season stretch, Voit hit four home runs.

In the 91 regular-season games since Voit made his final ascent to New York's 25-man roster, the Yankees have trotted out 88 different lineups. Only nine times has he been in the same batting order as Judge, Stanton, Sanchez and Gregorius. Voit actually didn't think, aside from last year's playoffs, that he ever had.

Perhaps within a few very short weeks, the lineup he's seeking will become a staple.

Gregorius is at most another two weeks away from a full return from offseason Tommy John surgery. Stanton, currently shut down due to an unexpected, non-related setback in his rehab from a biceps/shoulder injury, could be back about the same time. Judge continues progressing from a left oblique issue, and may get back sometime before the end of June.

Sanchez, who was on the injured list earlier this season, has been back since late April. And so has his bat.

Since his return off the IL, Sanchez has 10 homers. After an opposite-field, eighth-inning solo blast Monday, he's up to 16 for the season. In 2018, when he was limited to 89 games because of injury, he had 18 home runs.

Of Sanchez's post-IL homers, four have traveled more than 440 feet.

Which takes us back to the MVP question. If it isn't Voit or Sanchez, who is it?

"Guys like Gio [Urshela] and Thairo [Estrada], it's unbelievable how some of those guys aren't playing every day, and they're stepping up in huge situations for us," Voit said.

Added Yankees lifer Brett Gardner on the bevy of Triple-A talent the Yankees have employed this season: "When you have guys like that that are literally fighting for a job, fighting to stay up here day-to-day, it's fun to see."

As Gardner spoke in front of his home locker, the player Urshela is replacing, injured third baseman Miguel Andujar, walked by with his right arm in a black sling. A little more than a week ago, Andujar had surgery on his partially torn right labrum.

"Como estas?" the veteran leader Gardner said, asking in Spanish how Andujar was feeling.

"Tranquilo," Andujar responded.

That's actually a good word -- quiet -- to describe the defensive wizardry Urshela has routinely demonstrated in Andujar's absence.

Whether throwing from his backside across to first base, or throwing while falling or charging and making barehanded scoops, Urshela has looked quite smooth and easygoing in producing his share of "wow" moments.

"He laughs at a ground ball coming to him," Boone said earlier this season. "It's like he's getting into a warm bath. He just picks it up real nice, you know?"

After one particularly jaw-dropping snag and seated toss in Kansas City over the weekend, Boone doubled down on that statement.

"That's that warm bath I'm talking about," Boone said of the play. "He was over there taking a bath."

Urshela did have a rare miscue Sunday that ultimately cost the Yankees in a 10th-inning loss to the Royals. On the game's last play, a grounder chopped toward Urshela took a higher hop than he anticipated and got past him for a walk-off Royals hit.

Boone, a former major league third baseman himself, believes Kauffman Stadium's infield, hardened at the end of a long, sunny day, may have contributed.

"You're dead there. You've just got to stay in your legs as best you can," Boone said. "You almost know at that point in the game where it's dried out, and this isn't the greatest field anyway. You're a little bit at the mercy. You've just got to fight the fight and be able to make the play.

"Most usually really good infielders kind of create their hops. That's a situation where you're up against it."

In addition to his generally solid defense, Urshela has delivered timely hits throughout the season. In 14 plate appearances with two outs and runners in scoring position entering Monday, Urshela had eight RBIs with a 1.000 OPS.

"Even when we got him last year [via a late-season trade], I don't know if we expected this kind of offensive output that has been really consistent since Day 1," Boone said.

Aside from Voit, Sanchez and little-known fill-ins like Urshela, a case could be made that starting pitcher Domingo German has been the key piece to making this whole Yankees operation flow. The unexpected ace of the staff was the first pitcher in the big leagues to nine wins, although his record dropped to 9-2 after he allowed seven runs and four homers Sunday. Against the Royals, he has two losses and an 8.18 ERA. Against everyone else, he's undefeated with a cool 2.47.

And when it comes to leading perhaps the quietest early-season Yankees MVP campaign, the 35-year-old Gardner gets the nod.

He's batting .240 with a .786 OPS (his career-high is .804) and has already hit eight home runs. At this pace, he'd set a career-high in long balls (21 in 2017). Considering the work he put in this winter, that might be expected.

"I made some adjustments over the course of the offseason and spring to try and drive the ball a little more and do some things a little differently," Gardner said. "Nothing major."

Such as?

"You can't just go up there and say I'm going to drive the ball," he said. "There's obviously got to be a process to it. So for me, it was just a matter of cleaning up a couple things in my swing, and putting myself where I was capable of doing that.

"[That was] anything from my stance to where my feet are, to the angle of my feet, to the height of my hands, to the timing when I get started, to my load. Nothing major, just trying to clean up a few things to put myself in a position to be more consistent."

Speed is still a weapon for Gardner, too, as evidenced by his seven doubles and three triples. One of those triples came on the Yankees' recent road trip, in the same game that he hustled from first to home for a key run.

"That's just the way I've always kind of played, and it's important to bring that energy," Gardner said. "I think these guys get a kick out of seeing me still be able to run a little bit. I talk a little trash to them. I tell Clint [Frazier] and Tyler Wade and those guys that I'm still faster than them."

Whether or not he's actually faster than some of the organization's speedsters, the Yankees see the Gardner's style of play rub off on their current underdog-laden roster.

"It has a profound effect," Boone said. "That's one of the ways that he impacts the room and the clubhouse, is the way he goes about his business. There's an edge, there's a toughness, there's a blue collar that is who he is. And that's part of his game. Hopefully guys always take notice of that, and I think they do."

Yankees players are noticing something else too. They're noticing the work of the men they consider the real MVPs of this challenging start to the season.

"It all starts with our coaching staff. They put in a lot of work behind the scenes to put us in a position to be successful," Gardner said. "That's the one thing that's been constant.

"None of those guys have gone on the IL."

CONCORD, N.C. – The most harrowing moment of Saturday night’s portion of the United Rentals Patriot Nationals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte came during time trials, when Parker Price-Miller lost a wheel and flipped in the third turn.

Luckily Price-Miller was able to climb from his car and walk away from the crash unscathed, though his participation was scratched for the remainder of the night.

“The car is junk after that one,” he noted upon his arrival back to the pit area.

Price-Miller waited to see a replay of the incident before detailing what he felt from inside the car, but said he had “absolutely no warning” before he started tumbling through the corner.

“I just went into turn three, turned the car, heard a snap, and then the motor revved up and that was all she wrote after that,” Price-Miller told SPEED SPORT. “When you’re going that fast, you just don’t want to hit the wall with the cage open that hard. There’s been a lot of issues like that in the past few years and injuries … but I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

“It wasn’t that bad of a wreck,” he added. “We just kind of hit in a few of the wrong spots … hit the top of the cage and it caved the cage in, but I’m OK and I’ll be good to take on Mansfield in a week.”

Price-Miller’s flip called to mind several rule changes announced last August designed with driver safety in mid, including a major addition to the roll cage and rules requiring a steel left-front radius rod, the strengthening of the wing posts, and the nerf bars being mounted with three points.

The roll cage changes made a difference, according to Price-Miller.

“I’m just glad we didn’t have to experience any injuries or that major cage-to-wall type of a hit like some others have gone through in the past few years,” said Price-Miller. “My MAXIM Chassis held up really well, and I can’t thank them enough for good race cars.

“Obviously these support systems have made a difference, because I hit with the cage pretty hard and it didn’t collapse, so that’s a good thing.

Though he wasn’t too enthusiastic about it, Price-Miller did say that occasionally, crashes like the spill he took are necessary to make sure that safety swings as big as the one that the sprint car industry took before the start of this season are ones that pay off by keeping drivers safer than ever before.

“You’ve got to have tests like that to see if we’re going the right direction for safety; you just hate any time you become the test dummy and, unluckily, I was the test dummy tonight,” he pointed out. “But it happened, we’re OK and we’ll go on to race another day.

“These cars are safe and I’m thankful to have walked away from that one.”