Welcome to Friday’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 TODAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)

SATURDAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)

SUNDAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 1:35 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)

This LeBron James pendant is said to be worth $10,000 and is the property of a member of James' inner circle.

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ The saga of the LeBron James pendant took an odd twist when the piece of jewelry was taken from the woman who said she paid $5 for it at a yard sale four years ago before realizing it was worth almost $10,000. Vaneisha Robinson, an amateur boxer from Akron, was fielding offers on eBay when she got a phone call from the mother of Maverick Carter, the CEO of James’ marketing company, saying that James wanted to but the pendant. But when she went to a meeting expecting to meet the NBA star, James wasn’t there, and she claims she was threatened and forced to surrender the item, which Carter said had been stolen from him. Police backed Carter’s claim that the pendant is his. But Robinson told Ohio television station WEWS that the pendant belongs to her and she wants it back.

♦ At SportsIllustrated.com, Frank Hughes has more background on the sale of the Golden State Warriors to venture capitalist Joseph Lacob, who is a minority owner of the Celtics, and Peter Guber.

♦ Former Celtic Al Jefferson made a good first impression with his new team, the Jazz. Because Jefferson is excited to be in Utah as opposed to recently departed free agent Carlos Boozer, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson calls Jefferson “a heap of sincerity” and “the anti-Boozer.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On July 16, 1958, which Red Sox pitcher improved to 9-0 on the season with his 12th straight win (dating back to the previous year)?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We’ll be able to put Blake [Wheeler] in the mix and then we’ve got to sever cap space, and we’ll see where we’ll go from there as it applies to the start of the year.” — Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, in a conference call Thursday

STAT OF THE DAY: 35 — Consecutive successful stolen base attempts by the Rangers, after one Thursday night vs. the Red Sox

‘NET RESULTS: The zaniness at the Tour de France continues, as Mark Renshaw head butts a competitor in order to make room for his teammate to win the stage. Renshaw was kicked out of the race for his behavior.

Batting Stance Guy was at the All-Star Game searching for the best most obscure jersey he could find.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Ike Delock, who would add one more win to his streak before finally suffering a loss

SOOTHING SOUNDS: William Bell is 71 today.

Midday challenge: Can you add to this list of the NBA’s ugliest? Best part: What happened to Robert Swift? This is the guy Danny Ainge wanted to draft instead of Al Jefferson? That, my friends, is your Kedrick Brown draft day payback.