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: Detroit at Chicago Cubs, 2 p.m. (MLB Network)MLB: Boston at Washington, 6:05 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)MLB: Atlanta at NY Yankees, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)MLB: LA Angels at Seattle, 10 p.m. (MLB Network)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- The enormous LeBron James Nike banner in downtown Cleveland
will be removed this week after James announced Sunday he is leaving the Cavaliers to join the Lakers.
BREAKING: Nike will begin taking down the LeBron banner by Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland tomorrow, will take a couple days. pic.twitter.com/xLrIkKxHcV
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell)
July 2, 2018 The banner, which hangs on the Sherwin-Williams Global Headquarters, is 10 stories high and was also removed in 2010 when James left the Cavaliers to join the Heat. It was put back up in 2014 when James returned home to Cleveland. What a rollercoaster.
According to a Nike spokesman, the banner removal will begin on Tuesday and last several days.
Cleveland's new banner commemorates the moment LeBron truly became a Laker. pic.twitter.com/6JMZr3fjBI
— Sporting News (@sportingnews)
July 2, 2018 -- Lakers legend Kobe Bryant has approved of LeBron joining the team and welcomed him to the family.
"I spoke to him during the playoffs and then I talked to him last night, right after the decision," Bryant said on ESPN radio. "I told him, 'Welcome to the family, man.' It sounds crazy but I said, 'Dude, you are part of the family now. So anything you need on my end, I got you. Whatever the case may be, I am here for you.' Just wishing him and his family the best and looking forward to seeing them when they get in."
Kobe and LeBron spoke last night. pic.twitter.com/AgYb7clVmF
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith)
July 2, 2018 "Dude, as people, you got to help your brothers do well. I had a great run, I played 20 years, it was awesome, I had a great time, we are fortunate enough to win five championships and all that. Now it is somebody else's time. And that is what the Lakers have always been about,” Bryant said. "When I came here, Magic (Johnson) welcomed me with open arms, me and Shaq (O'Neal), and we were able to carry on the tradition with Magic's and Kareem's (Abdul-Jabbar) support and certainly it is our responsibility to pay that forward. So anything that I can do whatsoever to help LeBron bring a championship back to the city of L.A., I am all for it."
Bryant said he was thrilled when he heard James is joining the Lakers and called the team’s front office members “beasts” for making the move.
"With LeBron on this roster, I don't think it will be much of an issue to make the playoffs," Bryant added. "The dreams are substantially bigger now.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I wish I had a lot to say, but I don’t really know what happened. Obviously I know he’s got a big fastball and I got lucky. He got to the top of his windup and I told myself to start swinging and I hit it." -- Rick Porcello, after hitting a three-run double off of Max Scherzer in the Red Sox’ 4-3 win over the Nationals Monday night
