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.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY MONDAY:
NHL Playoffs: Canucks at Bruins, 8 p.m. (Versus)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ The city of Cleveland is smirking Monday, following LeBron James‘ latest failed effort to win an NBA title. About 15 minutes after the Mavericks knocked off the Heat in Game 6 Sunday night, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert sent a congratulatory tweet to Mavs owner Mark Cuban and it included this line obviously intended as a shot at LeBron: There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE.

In his postgame press conference, LeBron responded to his critics. “At the end of the day, all the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wizards forward Rashard Lewis took to the airwaves to deny a rumor that he had an affair with James’ fiancee, Savannah Brinson. Lewis said he had no idea how the rumor started and insisted he has never met Brinson. “Those rumors are 100 percent false,” Lewis told a Houston radio station Friday. “They’re not true. I don’t know how they came up.”

The rumor sprouted last week and was supposed to explain why James has struggled in the NBA finals, especially late in the games. It comes one year after a rumor that James’ mother had a sexual relationship with current Celtics guard Delonte West.

♦ According to the New York Post, Giants owner Steve Tisch will be the first pro sports team owner to publicly back the New York Marriage Equality campaign. Tisch is expected to follow Giants legend Michael Strahan‘s lead in filming a video in support of gay marriage rights.

♦ The son of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi wrote to the Green Bay Press Gazette to clarify that the family had not neglected Lombardi’s New Jersey grave site. This had been implied in a story last month about a man who had been tending to the site on his own.

♦ The University of California baseball team, which had been designated for elimination by the school’s administration a few months ago, advanced to its first College World Series since 1992. The San Francisco Chronicle has the story of the “team of destiny.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On June 13, 1974, Don Cherry was named coach of the Bruins. Who did he replace?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The refs have a tough job to do already. It’s the Stanley Cup final. It’s not easy to make calls, and obviously my focus is if they call it, great. If they don’t call it, that’s their decision. I am supporting their decision. I’m going to forget about it and get ready for my next shift.” — Canucks forward Alex Burrows, on if he was upset that referees seem to be letting calls against him go because of his prior embellishments

STAT OF THE DAY: 9 — Consecutive games with an RBI for Adrian Gonzalez, second in team history to Dwight Evans’ 10-game streak in 1989

‘NET RESULTS: Race car driver Allan McNish had a dramatic crash at Le Mans.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Bep Guidolin

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Bobby Freeman is 71 Monday.

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