Welcome to Thursday’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.

THURSDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NBA: Celtics at Magic, 8 p.m. (CSNNE, TNT; WEEI)
NBA: Grizzlies at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. (TNT)
College basketball: Boston College at Virginia, 9 p.m. (ESPNU; WRKO)
College basketball: NC State at North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Indiana at Wisconsin, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
NHL: All-Star draft, 8 p.m. (NBCSN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Tom Brady continues to have success on and off the field. (AP)

♦ Bloomberg Businessweek released its annual list of the “Power 100″ athletes — comprising on- and off-field attributes — and Tom Brady ranks third. The Patriots quarterback is behind two other NFL quarterbacks: Drew Brees and runner-up Aaron Rodgers. Brady, whose key sponsors include Under Armour, Audi, Ugg and Stetson Cologne, was fifth last year.

Brady’s counterpart in the Super Bowl, Giants QB Eli Manning, is 15th. The next Boston athlete on the list is Celtics big man Kevin Garnett, at No. 54 (seven spot down from last year). Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski checks in at No. 77, and Wes Welker is No. 95.

♦ Forbes has its list of the most valuable NBA teams, and the Lakers have taken the No. 1 spot from the Knicks. A 20-year television deal with Time Warner Cable that averages $200 million a year helped boost the team’s value to $900 million. The Lakers are followed by the Knicks ($780 million), Bulls ($600 million) and Mavericks ($497 million).

At No. 6 is the Celtics, who also signed a new media deal last year. The C’s extended their agreement with CSNNE 20 years through 2038 and got a 20 percent equity stake in the network. That boosts the team’s value to $482 million, up 7 percent from last year.

♦ Lightning fans are campaigning to save the job of the woman who dressed as the team mascot, Thunderbug. Kelly Frank was fired after an incident with a Bruins fan during a game last week (video below). She sprayed Silly String on the B’s fan’s head. He got mad, pushed the mascot and had to be restrained.

The team said the incident wasn’t the only reason for the dismissal but refused to divulge any more information.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Frank also once performed as the Rays mascot, Raymond, but was fired at the end of the 2008 season.

♦ The NFL will suspend its policy against players tweeting within 90 minutes of games and will provide a computer station on the sideline for players to tweet from the Pro Bowl this weekend.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Jan. 26, 1997, the Patriots lost to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, 35-21. Who was the Patriots’ leading receiver, with six catches for 67 yards and one touchdown?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We knew what the down and distance were on our last series. The scoreboard was not a factor for us. Any suggestion that the wrong down information was a deliberate effort to affect the outcome of the game is nonsense.” – Ravens coach John Harbaugh, ending speculation that there was any controversy in the final minute of Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Patriots

STAT OF THE DAY: 50 – Games former Red Sox reliever Dustin Richardson was suspended by Major League Baseball for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances

‘NET RESULTS: Oklahoma State’s Markel Brown has a monster dunk in the Cowboys’ upset of Missouri Wednesday night, but he stares down his opponents and gets a technical foul (and an ejection, as it’s his second tech of the night).

Suns guard Steve Nash has a little fun with the winter X Games.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Tight end Ben Coates

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Jean Knight turns 69 Thursday.

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