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The NBA just added some serious firepower to the front office -- hiring the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be Adam Silver's new special adviser.

The league just announced Ret. General Martin E. Dempsey -- the highest ranking U.S. military official for the past 4 years -- will step into his new role effective January 1st.

So, what's he gonna do exactly?

The NBA says Dempsey will "provide the NBA with counsel on leadership and service, while continuing to support the league's military and youth basketball initiatives."

In a statement, Gen. Dempsey added ... "After 4 decades of service in the United States Armed Forces, I look forward to working with the league to help improve communities and positively impact the children of civilian and military families."

As for Silver -- the NBA commish says he's "honored" to have Gen. Dempsey on board.

#GoUSA

Train hero Alek Skarlatos would've been on the Oregon college campus where a gunman killed 10 ... if not for his stint on "Dancing With The Stars."

Sources close to Skarlatos tell us he'd already enrolled at Umpqua Community College before accepting the 'DWTS' gig. We're told he had scheduled his classes for Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester, so he's certain he would have been on campus when the shooting happened.

We broke the story, Skarlatos bolted out of rehearsal Thursday when news broke about the shooting, and he flew home to Oregon almost immediately. We're told ABC paid for the flight.

Seems Karrueche Tran's summer lovin' is spillin' over into the fall ... because she's getting very close with Manchester United star Memphis Depay ... and even went to his game Wednesday night.

Tran was first spotted with Depay in Miami back in June -- but recently it seems things have started to heat up ... with the two hitting nightclubs together and even shopping in Manchester.

Now, with Tran attending the Man U game ... pointed out by our friends at BSO ... it's just another clue she's more than just friends with the guy who signed a $40 million contract back in May.

BTW, Man U won the game 2-1 ... and even though Memphis didn't score on the pitch, seems he might do pretty well after the game.

Houston Rockets star Ty Lawson says he does NOT believe he's an alcoholic ... despite 2 DUI arrests this year ... saying he just made "two dumb mistakes" and didn't really need to go to rehab.

Lawson just opened up about his stint at Cliffside Malibu, where he was ordered to complete a 30 day program stemming from his January DUI in Colorado, telling Yahoo Sports the experience was "eye-opening," but not completely necessary.

"I still honestly don’t think I would’ve had to go in there if it wasn’t court ordered. I just made two dumb mistakes. But I did take things from the [rehabilitation facility]."

As for what he learned, Lawson says ... he learned "what triggers are" and "what forces someone to drink."

Lawson says being around people at the facility who had bottomed out from booze gave him a new perspective on the dangers of drinking -- "I didn't think alcoholism got that bad. But it does."

"There were people who were pushed into [the rehab facility] by family, and then me, who was court ordered. Just to see that it can get that bad, that you can die. You may not see that as a person until you’re already there."

Ben Carson flashed some energy and personality on the campaign trail Wednesday ... by cracking a joke about cops shooting black kids.

The good doctor was stumping in New Hampshire, and reliving his childhood -- telling a story about how he and pals used to throw rocks at cars and run from the police.

Innocent enough tale about his wayward youth, and then he said ... "That was back in the day before they would shoot you."

Hard to tell if the GOP presidential candidate's comment was truly off-the-cuff or planned, but considering the current climate ... it seems like a risky door to open.

Especially for a guy who's moving up in the polls.

Pope Francis is finally copping to having a sit down with controversial Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis during his U.S. visit.

Davis' attorney went public about last week's meeting in Washington, DC on Tuesday night -- and Davis herself has talked about it Wednesday. The Vatican was slow to confirm the meeting, but finally told the NY Times it did happen.

Reporters -- who didn't know about the meeting at the time -- had asked the Pope last week what he thought about Davis' refusal to grant marriage licenses to same sex couples. The Pontiff said he didn't know her story, but generally supported someone's right to conscientiously object.

Kim says Pope Francis gave her rosaries and told her to stay strong. The Vatican refused to elaborate on what went down in the meeting.

Frankie Ford, the rock 'n' roll singer and pianist who had a huge hit with "Sea Cruise" died Monday in his native Louisiana.

The coroner says Ford died of natural causes at the age of 76 in his home in Gretna -- a New Orleans suburb. Mike Shepherd from the Louisiana music Hall of Fame says Ford had been confined to his bed over the summer while fighting an illness.

Ford shot to fame with his top 20 hit "Sea Cruise" in 1959.

He was known as the New Orleans Dynamo because he tirelessly toured the country, and got inducted into Louisiana's Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

Oo-ee, oo-ee baby ...

Great news for Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott -- the adorable dog that was STOLEN from his home has been found ... and cops nabbed the people suspected of the dognapping.

Elliott and his father Stacy begged the public for help when their dog Chase -- an Alaskan Malamute-German Shepherd mix -- was stolen from the family home in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday.

The scumbags who took Chase reportedly cut through a fenced off area to snatch the pooch.

But things turned around Tuesday morning -- when someone found Chase chained to a nearby fence and returned him to the Elliotts!

Action sports star Erik Roner -- one of the stars of MTV's "Nitro Circus" -- died in a freak skydiving accident in Lake Tahoe, California ... this according to the resort where it happened.

Kaley Cuoco's divorce from Ryan Sweeting should be settled even quicker than their brief marriage ... since they signed a prenuptial agreement.

In the divorce docs filed by Kaley on Friday in L.A. ... she cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, and says they separated on September 3. They got married Dec. 31, 2013.

She also points out all property or spousal support issues are already hammered out in the prenup ... which they drafted and signed a month before their wedding.

Cool moment in Houston today ... when James Harden went out of his way to track down NBA broadcaster Craig Sager so he could give him a hug as Craig continues to battle cancer.

It all went down in Houston ... where Sager has been receiving treatment for leukemia ever since the cancer returned back in March.

Sager hopes to return to the NBA sidelines this season -- and judging by his outfit, he's already getting wardrobe on point ... rocking a weird ugly shirt -- 'cause that's how Sager rolls.

Fetty Wap's been hit with 3 tickets ... one for every break in his leg after that motorcycle accident.

Cops in Paterson, NJ -- Fetty's hometown -- cited Fetty for driving without a license, no insurance, and failing to produce registration for his bike.

As we told you ... Fetty wrecked while attempting to pass a car on Saturday. He slammed into a car going in the opposite direction, and says he fractured his left leg in 3 places.

"Gotham" star Morena Baccarin -- who is pregnant with co-star Ben McKenzie's baby -- plans to marry him ... TMZ has learned.

Baccarin is in the middle of a nasty divorce with director Austin Chick. According to legal docs obtained by TMZ, Baccarin says she got pregnant with Ben's baby in June, which she claims was after she separated with Chick. The estranged husband begs to differ and says she got pregnant while they were still together.

Chick filed for divorce, and Morena has already planned her next move. In her legal docs, obtained by TMZ, she says, "Today, I am in a new committed relationship. I am planning to re-marry. Also, I am 3 1/2 months pregnant."

Morena's divorce is bitter. As we reported, Chick says he came to their house in June, only to find Ben freshly showered and playing with their 1-year-old son.

And Morena included texts in her docs to show how bad the situation is ... she texted to Chick, "I'd like to be there alone with Julius [their son]. Please Friday all day and night through Sunday morning."

He responded, "I'd like to run Fox Studios and remake The Sound of Music w an entirely black cast of hip hop artist."

Rich Homie Quan is copping to making a huge mistake when he lit up with his infant on his lap -- question is ... will it be enough to spare him a Child Protective Services investigation?

Quan says, "I would like to apologize to my son,(Royal) my fans and all the parents around the world.By no means would I do anything to hurt my son or any kid in the world.I regret that I chose to continue to smoke once Royal jumped in my lap."

He put up a pretty loving pic of himself with Royal, and added, "I am sorry for my actions." He never says exactly what he was smoking -- marijuana or a hand-rolled cigarette.

TMZ broke the story ... CPS and police in Georgia launched an investigation after seeing the smoking video, which RHQ posted himself -- and after getting flooded with complaints.

RHQ says in spite of this mistake he'll "continue to strive to be the best parent I can be."

The D.A. for the Patrick Kane rape investigation says the alleged victim's lawyer was flat out lying and creating a "circus" when he claimed the rape kit was stolen from police custody.

As TMZ Sports reported ... the lawyer for the alleged victim held a huge news conference to accuse someone of tampering with his client's rape kit, and thereby compromising the case.

Well, D.A. Frank Sedita III is now unloading on the attorney ... who said the rape kit was in a bag left at the victim's mother's house. Sedita blasted the whole story as false, and brought visuals as back up. You gotta see how he went off on a reporter who insinuated his office was somehow to blame.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter could lose way more than his job -- Swiss authorities are picking up where the FBI left off ... literally digging into Blatter's office to investigate rampant corruption.

Blatter has been accused of criminal mismanagement, misappropriation and making "disloyal payments." Translation: Sepp was allegedly shelling out bribes to other soccer officials, partly to secure TV deals.

Swiss officials said they searched Sepp's office in Zurich on Friday and seized data.

The new criminal investigation comes after the FBI's sting operation in May, which lead to the arrests of 7 FIFA officials. Blatter was untouched in that probe, but no such luck this time around.