I mean, if we fire Will Hardy afterwards too, maybe this comparison will work.
I have to imagine the reason no one plays hard on this team is because Will Hardy is trying to throw games and I don't know if a coach can flip the switch back to respectability.
I think the same principle applies to the coach. A good coach is a good coach and this "winning culture" thing really doesn't mean much. Time will tell if Hardy actually good or not, but if he fails it won't be because this franchise decided to throw games intentionally. I don't think less of TOR's coach because he has been throwing games intentionally (more than Hardy even). As with the players who are in a "losing culture", it becomes a complete afterthought down the line. Nobody cares that OKC's coach was there when they didn't care to win. The players got better and in large part the players got better inside of a supposed "losing culture". Hardy and Rajakovic are no different from prospects in the sense that if that they will fail or succeed based on their ability and not because of a culture of losing.
I would also say that generally our issues don't have as much to do with us playing hard but simply that they guys we have out there aren't good. I worry about Hardy's ability to teach defensive principles, but I don't really believe in a coach willing his team to play hard and scrappy. These guys playing for their NBA careers are often playing as hard as anyone, but again, that's just a reflection of talent not culture.