Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
TUESDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Rays at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Mariners at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. (MLB Network)
NBA playoffs: Wizards at Bulls, 8 p.m. (TNT)
NBA playoffs: Grizzlies at Thunder, 9 p.m. (NBATV)
NBA playoffs: Warriors at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. (TNT)
NHL playoffs: Rangers at Flyers, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
Soccer: UEFA Champions, Real Madrid at Bayern Munich, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)
AROUND THE WEB:
— As the NBA prepares to make an announcement Tuesday afternoon regarding sanctions for Clippers owner Donald Sterling, one NBA owner has an idea that he says commissioner Adam Silver is considering: Make the players free agents in an effort to force Sterling to sell the team.
Sponsors have started to end or suspend their relationships with the team, but it might take more to push Sterling out the door following racist comments that he allegedly uttered in a conversation with his girlfriend. Rockets owner Leslie Alexander told the Houston Chronicle he recommended to Silver that he void the players’ contracts with Los Angeles.
“I told Adam I don’t think he can be removed because the constitution [of the NBA] only allows him to be removed except for gambling. I’m not sure that legally can be done,” Alexander said. “But if he loses his players, nobody is going to want to go there. He’ll only be able to get a player that is worth $2 million and will play for [$]12 [million]. And who is going to want to coach there?
“If you’re a player in the NBA you don’t want to play for somebody like that. If you worked for a company, you would walk away and say, ‘I’m gone.’ I think the players should have that right.”
The Clippers and Warriors resume their series Tuesday with Game 5 at Staples Center. Warriors coach Mark Jackson suggested that fans boycott the game.
“I believe if it was me, I wouldn’t come to the game,” Jackson said. “I believe the fans, the loudest statement that they can make as fans is to not show up to the game. ‘¦ To me, it will make the noise of it not being tolerated. That this is a different time. It’s unfortunate, and we cannot allow someone with these feelings to profit.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who indicated he declined an offer to speak with Sterling, said he hopes the arena is “packed and people are cheering for us.” He said he isn’t sure what the team will do before the game in terms of addressing the controversy, but he acknowledged it’s a consideration for him or a player to address the crowd “if we feel that’s something will help our fans.”
— Rogers Clemens is due in court in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning as part of the defamation suit brought by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, after a federal appeals court on Monday denied Clemens’ bid for an emergency intervention.
Clemens’ request for a stay of proceedings also was denied, with U.S. District Court Judge Sterling Johnson expressing disgust with the former pitcher’s legal tactics.
“Clemens’ attempts in stalling this litigation are a threat to the administration of justice,” Sterling wrote, adding that Clemens “has chosen to file frivolous motions and appeals to perpetuate the delay of this five-year-old litigation.”
The ruling means Clemens will have to share about 900 emails that detail his strategy in dealing with accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs following the release of the Mitchell Report in 2007, when he was described as a user of steroids and human growth hormone.
— Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper reportedly will have surgery Tuesday on his left thumb, which he injured on a headfirst slide into third base on a triple in Friday’s game against the Padres.
Harper, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, is expected to be out until at least July.
“I slid into the bag and I caught it a little bit,” Harper said after Friday’s game. “Went into the dugout, swing a couple in the cage, felt fine. Went out to the outfield, it swelled up a little bit.”
Harper is hitting .289/.352/.422 with one home run and nine RBIs. He was yanked from a game a little over a week ago for a lack of hustle running out a ground ball.
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On April 29, 1986, Roger Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 Mariners. The Red Sox were in jeopardy of losing the game, however, as Gorman Thomas hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning. Which Red Sox player answered with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 Sox lead that would stand up as the final score?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We don’t do much for moral victories, we just dropped the ball. Everybody’s got to be ready to play, and I didn’t think we responded well enough.” — Pacers forward David West, after Monday’s 107-97 Game 5 loss to the visiting Hawks
STAT OF THE DAY: 4:52 – Time it took for the Blue Jackets to score three goals in the third period of Monday’s game vs. the Penguins, although Pittsburgh held on for a 4-3 victory to close out the series in six games
‘NET RESULTS (mobile users, check the website to see the videos): Mavericks forward DeJuan Blair is ejected after kicking Spurs forward Tiago Splitter in the head during their game Monday night.
From “The Tonight Show,” New Yorkers show their disgust with former Yankee Robinson Cano, until Cano steps out from behind his picture to say hello to them.
Florida Southern College players carry Eckerd sophomore Kara Oberer around the bases after she hit the game-deciding home run but suffered a knee injury while running.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Dwight Evans
SOOTHING SOUNDS: Tammi Terrell, who died in 1970, was born on this day in 1945.