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Darren Sharper just appeared in an L.A. courtroom -- where he received his final sentence in a multi-state rape case that involved as many as 16 women.

Cristiano Ronaldo has called in the big guns to increase his already blazing speed -- a guy nicknamed "King Feet" ... and the video is insane.

His name is Luis Badillo Jr. -- and he's said to have the quickest feet on the planet. He's worked with pro athletes from the NFL and the NBA ... and even world-class sprinters like Asafa Powell.

Now, CR7 has called for his services -- and the two have been jamming out speed drills all day long.

It's insanely impressive ... and no, the videos aren't sped up ... it's all real time.

One of the survivors of the Colombian plane crash Instagrammed shortly before boarding the plane that went down -- showing him smiling and laughing with a soccer teammate before the unthinkable occurred.

The man with the beard is Alan Ruschel -- a defender on the Chapecoense soccer team, based out of Brazil. The team was set to play in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday.

Ruschel Instagrammed with his teammate, Danilo Padilha, while aboard the first leg of their trip -- before they got on the charter flight that crashed en route to Medellín, Colombia.

Padilha survived the initial crash, but later died at a nearby hospital.

Ruschel reportedly suffered head injuries in the crash -- but is said to be alive.

The plane, which took off from Bolivia, contained 81 passengers -- including players, journalists and others. It reportedly suffered electrical failure just before it was supposed to land near the airport in Medellin, Colombia.

Miraculously, rescuers found 6 survivors in the wreckage -- 3 players, 2 crewman and 1 journalist. 71 people have been confirmed dead.

According to reports, Lionel Messi and the Argentina national soccer team flew on the exact same plane just 20 days ago to travel to a match in Brazil.

Story developing ...

4:31PM PT -- Rams C.O.O. Kevin Demoff says Eric Dickerson is NOT banned from the sideline ... and is welcome at Rams games/practice. Demoff says he has reached out to E.D. in an effort to clear up any miscommunication.

Eric Dickerson says he's persona non grata on the L.A. Rams sidelines -- and it's all over criticisms the NFL great made about the team.

The Hall of Famer went on his radio show on AM 570 LA Sports early Monday and said, "Someone with the Rams told me I'm not wanted on sidelines at games, that what I've said makes the players uncomfortable."

Dickerson did not reveal who made the call -- but sources connected to the situation say it was someone powerful.

Dickerson said the Rams official told him his honesty was making players uncomfortable.

We're told Dickerson is unhappy with the situation -- especially because he's not only been a supporter, but hosted the rookies at his home during training camp in his own "rookie symposium."

We reached out to the Rams -- so far, no word back.

Usain Bolt struggled to get out of bed to train for the 2016 Olympics -- saying the pressure and stress he was under took the fun out of running.

The Jamaican track legend opened up about his struggles at the premiere of "I Am Bolt" -- the new documentary about his life.

"The workload I had leading up to the Olympics and even at the 2015 World Championships meant there was so much pressure and stress that it just wasn’t fun anymore," Bolt said.

Of course, Bolt powered through it and won 3 gold medals in Rio -- and now he's back to his old self.

“Now that the pressure is gone I’m much more relaxed and happy to go to training because I know it’s not going to be so intense anymore."

Bolt is gearing up for the 2017 World Championships in London ... and says he'll finally hang up his spikes after that.

But it might not be the end of Bolt's athletic career -- he says he plans to train with the German soccer team, Borussia Dortmund, at the end of the 2017-18 season.

"It’s something I always wanted to try to see if I was any good at ... I will do a little training to see whether I am worthy."

Just give him the Slam Dunk trophy now.

Here's Minnesota Timberwolves star Zach LaVine hitting a 360 dunk from the free throw line ... just because he felt like it.

His teammate, Andrew Wiggins, captured the whole thing on his Snapchat ... and yeah, it's nuts.

Talk about feeding the masses ...

A bunch of Philadelphia 76ers players and staff prepped 50,000 Thanksgiving meals Tuesday to give to the needy ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

Players like Robert Covington and Sergio Rodriguez -- along with 200 staffers -- donned their finest hairnets at the Boys & Girls Club in Frankford and got to work prepping the meals.

The 76ers tell us the 200+ person crew took about 90 minutes to get roughly 52,000 meals ready -- to make sure at-risk youth and their families will have a delicious holiday.

Good work!

Ex-NBA star Steve Francis has been released from jail after his Saturday drunk driving arrest -- but was ordered by the judge to install a breathalyzer system into his car.

As we previously reported, cops say Francis reeked of booze and vowed revenge on officers during his arrest ... in which a bunch of weed was also allegedly found in the car.

After he bonded out Wednesday morning, he returned to court -- where the judge told him he's not allowed to drink or take drugs unless prescribed by a doctor.

He will also undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

The judge also said he can't leave the state of Texas without permission -- unless he's going to Florida to turn himself in on an unrelated burglary charge (he has 30 days to do that).

Cops have arrested a doctor in connection with the death of former 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts.

Roberts died from a prescription drug overdose and West Bend, Wisc. Police believe the source of the drugs was an Alabama physician -- Dr. Richard Snellgrove. He's now been indicted for illegal drug distribution.

Snellgrove reportedly prescribed 5 different controlled substances in the names of different individuals, but prosecutors allege the intended recipient for all the meds was Roberts.

So much for those breakup rumors ... because Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson still look thicker than your average Thanksgiving gravy.

The couple hit up the Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Cleveland to hand out turkey dinners to underprivileged people ... along with Tristan's teammate, J.R. Smith.

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin was NOT having it when a guest on her show used the n-word while criticizing Donald Trump's appointees, and she abruptly pulled the plug on the interview.

Author Charles Kaiser was ripping Stephen Bannon when he claimed Trump's Chief Strategist uses the racial epithet. Watch the reaction from Brooke and Paris Dennard -- a Trump supporter who's black and shocked as hell at the turn in the conversation.

The buck stopped with Brooke ... real quick.

2:00 PM PT -- Kaiser is apologizing to anyone offended by his use of the n-word, but thinks it's worse that he accused Bannon of using it instead of Jeff Sessions, Trump's potential Attorney General candidate. On Facebook he claims several witnesses will back his allegation.

It's about time people start respecting Michael Jordan for more than just the "Crying Jordan" meme ... so says the President of the United States!!!

MJ was at the White House along with a huge list of stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Bill Gates, Robert Redford, Ellen and more ... when President Obama singled him out for some jokes!

Obviously, Obama praised him for being a hugely successful athlete, businessman and philanthropist -- but zinged him a little bit for his acting career and the whole Internet meme thing.

Well ... it's officially official.

After weeks of speculation, Bruce Arena has been named the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Soccer team ... the squad announced Tuesday morning.

Arena replaces recently sacked Jurgen Klinsmann ... who lasted 5 years with the organization.

“Any time you get the opportunity to coach the National Team it’s an honor,” Arena said.

"Working as a team, I’m confident that we’ll take the right steps forward to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.”

Arena is the most accomplished coach in U.S. soccer history, so hopefully he can turn things around.

The bizarre saga of Steve Francis has taken another crazy twist -- turns out, there's a warrant out for his arrest for allegedly BURGLARIZING a BMW outside of a clam restaurant in Florida.

Here's the deal ... officials in Florida caught wind of the fact Francis was arrested in Houston for DWI over the weekend and are now trying to extradite him for an alleged burglary that went down in June.

We obtained the police report from that incident which says the ex-NBA star cased a 2003 BMW parked outside of the Cortez Clam Factory on the evening of June 15th.

Francis allegedly asked the bartender at the restaurant to give him a flashlight -- and then he went to the car and ransacked it ... taking the following items:

-- makeup pouch, wallet, gold wedding ring, gold diamond band, earrings, press credentials and $100 in cash.

Total amount -- $7,252 in goods and cash.

Two days later, cops say Francis went to the police department with a clear plastic bag of goods and said, "I just robbed somebody, take me to jail. I'm turning myself in."

Despite what appeared to be a confession, Francis left the police station without being charged with a crime.

Donald Trump has just reportedly agreed to settle several lawsuits over his Trump University real estate seminars.

Reuters is reporting Trump settled up just as the judge in the case was supposed to rule on a request by Trump's lawyer to delay the trial until after Trump's inauguration in January.

Von Miller got deep on social media today -- talking about karma and "curve balls" in life -- and it seems like a thinly veiled reference to his sex tape legal battle.

As we previously reported, Von has declared legal war on a woman he had sex with in Mexico -- a woman who recorded the session and allegedly tried to sell it back to the NFL star for $2.5 million.

Von got a temporary injunction in court which blocks her from releasing the tape ... at least for now.

The Denver Broncos star never mentioned the sex tape in an Instagram post on Thursday -- but the message seems clear ... karma will bite this woman in the ass.

"I believe in God, luck, fate and I believe in karma, that the energy you put out in the world comes back to meet you."

"But life inevitably throws us curve balls, unexpected circumstances that remind us to expect the unexpected. I've come to understand these curve balls are the beautiful unfolding of both karma and current. #lifeisgreat #blessed."