Welcome to Monday'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.
MONDAY'S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:NBA: Milwaukee at Indiana, 7 p.m. (NBATV)NHL: Columbus at Toronto, 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- Rob Gronkowski tried his hand at stand-up comedy (emphasis on "tried") in a new special that debuted Friday on Showtime.
In Unsportsmanlike Comedy with Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots tight end roasts Tom Brady's mansion, healthy diet and claims Brady wouldn't have won any Super Bowls without him.
Gronkowski starts one bit complaining he has known Brady for seven years but still has never been to Brady's mansion despite having a big hand in Brady's success.
"Without me he would have zero Super Bowl rings," Gronkowski said. "I don't know how that's possible, I didn't know him after his first three, but he would have zero."
Gronkowski goes on to make fun of Brady's strict diet because avocado ice cream jokes are really fresh and original.
"Yo, Tom, I need some avocado ice cream too, please," he said. "Some walnuts, a side salad. Thank you, Tom. Maybe I can play 'til I'm 40 like you."
The special aired at 10 p.m. on Friday and also features Juston McKinney, Finesse Mitchell, Jay Larson, John Caparulo and Lenny Clarke. Showtime subscribers can stream it online.
-- Lonzo Ball and Luke Walton responded this weekend to comments made by Lonzo's father, LaVar, about Walton's lack of ability to coach his players.
After the inevitable finally happened and LaVar criticized Walton, saying the Lakers coach "doesn't have control of the team no more," both Walton and Lonzo denied the claim.
"I don't think so," Lonzo said when asked if he thinks Walton has lost the locker room. "He's our head coach. We're going to play for him."
When asked if he likes Walton as a coach, Lonzo said, "I'll play for anybody,"
"My job is to play basketball," he continued. "I don't decide who the coach is."
"It doesn't bother me," Walton said. "My only concern with any of it is Zo. As long as Zo is fine with it and Zo can come in and play and it doesn't affect mine and his relationship, then it doesn't bother me at all."
"I don't see that our players aren't playing hard," Walton continued. "I think our players are playing very hard. We've been through a hard stretch. They're giving us what they have and we're going to keep working and we'll be fine."
"You can see they're not playing for Luke no more. Luke doesn't have control of the team no more. They don't want to play for him," LaVar told ESPN of Walton. "That's a good team. Nobody wants to play for him. I can see it. No high-fives when they come out of the game. People don't know why they're in the game. He's too young. He's too young. ... He ain't connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player, he's not connecting with not one player."
The Lakers are 12-27 this season and snapped a nine-game losing streak on Sunday night.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It will be a good challenge obviously. They're the No. 1 seed, homefield advantage throughout. I'd like to just see us play our best football to see where we are at with these guys." -- Titans coach Mike Mularkey, on facing the Patriots in the divisional round Saturday night
