Welcome to Wednesday'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.
WEDNESDAY'S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:Olympics: Men's curling: US vs. Britain, 1:30 p.m. (NBCSN)Olympics: Women's curling: US vs. Sweden, 5 p.m. (CNBC)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- The NBA released a statement early Wednesday in response to workplace hostility allegations brought against the Mavericks in a Sports Illustrated report published Tuesday.
"The Dallas Mavericks have informed us of the allegations involving former team president Terdema Ussery and Mavs.com writer Earl Sneed. This alleged conduct runs counter to the steadfast commitment of the NBA and its teams to foster safe, respectful and welcoming workplaces for all employees," reads the statement released by NBA Executive Vice President of Communications, Mike Bass. "Such behavior is completely unacceptable and we will closely monitor the independent investigation into this matter."
The Mavericks released a statement on the allegations against former Mavericks president and CEO Terdema Ussery, who is accused of many incidents of inappropriate behavior toward female employees during his 18 years with the organization, before the report was released.
"The Dallas Mavericks have received information about behavior in our workplace that appears to have violated the organization's standards of conduct," the team's statement reads. "It has been alleged that a former officer of the organization engaged in various acts of inappropriate conduct toward women over a period of years. This individual left the employment of the Mavericks nearly three years ago and the Mavericks have only learned of the scope of these complaints in the past days."
"The Mavericks organization takes these allegations extremely seriously. Yesterday we notified the league office and immediately hired outside counsel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation. The investigation will focus on the specific allegations related to this former employee, and will look more broadly at our company's workplace practices and policies. In addition, an employee whose job was to receive and investigate such complaints and report them accurately and fully, has been suspended pending the conclusion of our investigation," the statement continues. " … There is no room for such conduct in the Mavericks' workplace—or any workplace. The Mavericks will provide all necessary resources to ensure that every current and former employee receives appropriate support."
The report claims Ussery, who left the team in 2015, was allowed to keep working with the team despite a number of complaints to human resources about his behavior.
The report alleges employees became frustrated with Buddy Pittman, the head of human resources, after his failure to act in addressing complaints.
Earl Sneed, team reporter for Mavericks.com, is accused in the report of hitting a female colleague with whom he had a relationship in 2014.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban addressed the issue earlier this week in a meeting with business-side employees of the team.
"It's wrong. It's abhorrent. It's not a situation we condone," Cuban said. "I can't tell you how many times, particularly since all this [#MeToo> stuff has been coming out recently I asked our HR director, 'Do we have a problem? Do we have any issues I have to be aware of?' And the answer was no."
-- Johnny Weir is known for his bold fashion statements and he took his look to another level Tuesday night.
During the Olympics broadcast, the figure skating analyst accessorized his hair updo with two small cardinals.
Johnny Weir has 2 tiny cardinals nesting in his hair tonight. pic.twitter.com/DuF4cQeRFw
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) February 20, 2018Personal brand alert: Johnny Weir with nesting birds in his hair during primetime Olympic coverage pic.twitter.com/h4G6BZsBry
— will warm hands (@dubsheff) February 20, 2018Weir brought 13 suitcases to PyeongChang full of clothes, shoes and accessories.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I didn't know anything, honestly. On our team, gossip doesn't travel." -- Alan Branch, with DHK, on if he knew before the Super Bowl that Malcolm Butler wouldn't be starting the game
