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The NTSB says an initial investigation into the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash shows no outward evidence of engine failure.

The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings into the Jan. 26 crash saying it appears the engine was working at the time of the crash because there was a cut tree branch at the crash scene.

The NTSB report says the helicopter's instrument panel was completely destroyed in the wreckage.

The main wreckage was 127 feet from the impact site -- and that's where investigators found both engines, the entire fuselage, portions of the cockpit instrument panel and other key pieces of the aircraft.

According to the report, the pilot's final transmission to the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (SCT) was to let the controller know he was trying to climb to 4,000 feet to get above the thick fog/cloud layer.

However, radar data collected by investigators shows the aircraft only reached 2,300 feet before trying to make a left turn. Eight seconds later the aircraft began descending (while trying to turn) at a VERY high rate of speed, dropping at rate of 4,000 feet per minute before crashing into the mountain.

As we reported ... NTSB officials said Kobe's Sikorsky S-76 chopper was NOT equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), nor was it outfitted with a flight data recorder (FDR) or cockpit voice recorder (CVR).

In the seconds prior to crashing, the pilot, Ara Zoboyan, took the helicopter from 1,200 feet to 2,000 feet within a matter of seconds. It appeared he cleared one hillside, only to strike the next when it crashed at about 1700 feet. Photos taken by a mountain biker on a nearby trail show the intensity of the crash.

In the days following the crash, a team of NTSB investigators combed the crash site ... rummaging through debris. The agency released drone footage showing most of the aircraft in tiny pieces.

All of the parts were shipped to Arizona, where the NTSB reassembled the aircraft.

The NTSB says it will release its final report in 12 to 18 months. That one is expected to include findings, recommendations and probable cause for the crash.

As we told you, the NTSB says back in 2006 it recommended the FAA require all helicopters carrying 6 or more passengers to have TAWS, and for all rotorcraft to have an FDR and CVR. The FAA didn't mandate either.

Gervonta Davis has been arrested for domestic violence for roughing up his ex-girlfriend at a celebrity basketball game in Florida, cops confirm.

The boxing superstar -- currently the WBA lightweight champion -- surrendered to the Coral Gables PD on Tuesday for the Feb. 1 incident.

Cops say the 25-year-old is facing one count of "simple battery domestic violence."

As we previously reported, Davis was seen grabbing and ripping his ex-girlfriend -- the mother of his child -- out of her seat during a heated altercation at the game.

The argument continued backstage.

Cops say, "As a result of an ongoing investigation after being notified through social media and the victim, on Feb. 1 2020, [Davis] was observed battering his former girlfriend whom [sic] have child together."

"[Davis] surrendered himself, to the Coral Gables Police detectives assigned to the case."

For his part, Davis put out a statement over the weekend denying striking the woman.

"I never once hit her ... yeah I was aggressive and told her come on," Davis said.

"That's the mother of my child. I would never hurt her."

Davis is a rising superstar in the boxing world -- he's Floyd Mayweather's protege and has racked up an impressive 23-0 record as a pro with victories over guys like Yuriorkis Gamboa and José Pedraza.

Davis has had a BUNCH of legal issues over the years -- he was arrested for assault back in 2017 after allegedly punching a friend. The charge was later dropped.

He was arrested again in 2018 for a street fight in Washington D.C.

Rush Limbaugh's sharing some sobering news -- he says he's just been diagnosed lung cancer, and it's in an advanced stage.

The iconic conservative firebrand host made the shocking announcement Monday during his radio program. After revealing his diagnosis, Rush said his scheduled cancer treatments will mean taking time off from his show. He admitted there will be times when he just physically won't be able to host due to the treatments.

He was not specific about how doctors plan to attack the cancer.

Rush says he first noticed something was wrong on his 69th birthday last month, so he went for some tests and learned his diagnosis. He says he thought about not telling anyone but didn't want to set off rumors when he started missing shows.

Rush, who started his radio career in the 1970s, says he's going to keep working as long as he can.

Jeff Bezos just added BILLIONS to his massive fortune -- which is nothing new for him, but what's new this time ... it only took a few strokes of the clock to make that increase.

Stock for the Amazon honcho's company surged 12 percent in a matter of 15 minutes Thursday afternoon, which equaled an astounding 11-digit increase to his bottom line.

The astronomical math? Bloomberg says Jeff added $13.2 BILLION just from the surge, which raises his net worth to about $129.5 billion. Forbes was a wee bit more modest, reporting Bezos added $12.8 billion to his portfolio, with a new net worth of $128.9 billion.

Either way ... ya get the point. Bill Gates feels like a panhandler right now.

On an even grander scale -- the stock boost pushed Amazon's market cap north of $1 TRILLION!!! That's a lot of zeroes.

Oh, and Bill ... JK, buddy. The world's second-richest man is still worth about $110.8 billion. Said another way ... about one Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve's widow) less than Bezos.

Damn, these people are rich!!!

Firefighters are pulling off daring rescues from a 25-story high-rise inferno in Los Angeles ... where several residents are trapped by the smoke and flames.

Helicopters and fire trucks are swarming around the building near L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood. Flames are billowing out of the 6th floor, and at least one man was clinging to the side of the building ... waiting for firefighters to reach him.

They eventually did get to him as they extended a rescue ladder up to the 6th floor. Other residents made it to the roof, where rescuers dangling from helicopters were able to airlift them to safety.

SpaceX had a great day Sunday ... its Crew Dragon spacecraft performed flawlessly in a maneuver critical to manned space flight.

The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at around 10:30 AM ET.  The point of the unmanned mission ... to test the in-flight abort system. 84 seconds into the flight, when the spacecraft is 60,000 feet above mother Earth, the mission gets scrubbed and the rocket separates from the crew capsule, propelling it at warp speed away from the rocket.

It worked flawlessly, and it was a beautiful sight.

The crew capsule came down in about 10 minutes, parachuting safely to Earth so the folks at SpaceX in Hawthorne can study the data.

Conor McGregor ain't exactly spewing venom -- he's complimenting the hell outta Cowboy Cerrone ... in what might be the NICEST press conference he's ever been in.

Not only did Conor arrive 15 minutes EARLY for the event (super unusual for McGregor) ... but when the opportunity presented itself to trash talk, he didn't launch the missiles he fired at guys like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Floyd Mayweather.

Instead, Conor praised Cowboy as a real accomplished fighter, a worthy opponent and an all-around good dude.

"Although there will be blood spilled on January 18th, it will not be bad blood," Conor said.

McGregor still predicted a knockout victory at the Palms Casino Resort ... but in the nicest way possible.

Conor was also asked if he was worried about getting banned from the United States due to his legal issues over the years, but the Irishman said he's all good and how grateful he is for the U.S.

McGregor also said he's cut out booze in preparations for the fight ... which means no beloved Proper 12.

Conor and Cowboy are set to throw down on Saturday night at UFC 246 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas (only available on ESPN+) ... that's when the compliments will end.

As for Cowboy, he returned the love!!!

"I'm looking forward to 4-5 rounds of battle with this man ... Conor's one of the last dying breeds of the last fighters, so it's good to be in there with him and really get in there and f**king give it all we got."

"So, yeah man, I'm going 5 rounds with this dude and I can't f**king wait 'til Saturday night."

The presser was a nice fest ... and even had a Chad Johnson appearance!!!

No, seriously ... the ex-NFL star put on his journalist hat with Bleacher Report and asked a question!!!

The guys even shared a moment over their style -- Conor complimented Cowboy's python suit and both fighters bonded over PETA coming after them.

Alex Cora is OUT as the Boston Red Sox manager ... after both sides "mutually agreed to part ways" in light of the MLB's cheating probe.

The league's investigation findings determined Cora was the mastermind behind the Houston Astros' sign-stealing system when he was the bench coach in 2017.

Cora was with the 'Stros when they won the World Series in 2017 ... and the manager of the Red Sox when they won the Fall Classic in 2018.

The 44-year-old manager had yet to receive his punishment from the league for the scandal ... but given the fact Astros manager, A.J. Hinch, was suspended 1 year just for knowing about it, it was assumed Cora would get much worse.

The Sox didn't wait to find out Cora's fate ... releasing a statement Tuesday explaining their decision to move on.

"Today we met to discuss the Commissioner's report related to the Houston Astros investigation," the statement reads.

"Given the findings and the Commissioner's ruling, we collectively decided that it would not be possible for Alex to effectively lead the club going forward and we mutually agreed to part ways."

Slovenian tennis pro Dalila Jakupovic was forced to quit her qualifying match at the Australian Open on Tuesday ... after she coughed and collapsed to the court due to the air quality.

Of course, the air in Melbourne is currently considered "the worst in the world" as smoke from the wildfires has taken over the area.

Despite the chief health officer saying the air was very poor or hazardous, the qualifying round of the tournament kicked off on Tuesday ... and several players have complained about the conditions already.

Jakupovic was in the middle of the second set of her match against Stefanie Vogele when she started coughing uncontrollably and went to her knees.

“I was really scared that I would collapse," the 28-year-old said ... adding that it was unfair for players to have to play in the current conditions.

"I never had breathing problems. I actually like heat," Jakupovic added. "I just couldn't breathe anymore and I just fell on the floor."

Other tennis pros needed assistance during their matches ... including Genie Bouchard and Bernard Tomic.

Cavaliers coach John Beilein was forced to apologize to his players Wednesday after he says he accidentally called them "thugs" during a team meeting.

Here's the deal ... the 66-year-old was reportedly praising his Cleveland squad during a film session when he told them they were no longer "playing like a bunch of thugs."

Obviously, the term has an offensive connotation ... and, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, players were "stunned" by their head coach's comment.

But, Beilein attempted to clear the air after Cavs general manager Koby Altman brought the situation to his attention ... with the coach saying he meant to say "slugs," not "thugs."

"I didn't realize that I had said the word 'thugs,' but my staff told me later I did and so I must have said it," Beilein told Wojnarowski on Wednesday night. "I meant to say slugs, as in slow-moving. We weren't playing hard before, and now we were playing harder. I meant it as a compliment."

Beilein said he already had personally talked to eight of his players over the alleged mix-up, adding, "they are telling me that they understand."

It's been a rough start to Beilein's NBA coaching career ... after being hired this past offseason, the ex-Michigan coach has struggled to adapt to the pros.

He's just 10-27 this season ... and has reportedly riffed with team star Kevin Love throughout his short tenure in Cleveland.

Terrell Owens says now that the Dallas Cowboys have fired Jason Garrett ... they only need to do 1 more thing to get back to Super Bowl glory -- DITCH DAK FOR TOM BRADY!!!

TO made the shocking statement on the "Joe, Lo & Dibs" show on 95.7 The Game on Tuesday ... claiming Jerry Jones is just one TB12 away from getting Dallas its 6th ring.

"They have a quarterback that's a free agent in Tom Brady. That's the next move."

Owens says he has a rationale behind his wild thinking ... saying the fact that Prescott STILL doesn't have a contract speaks volumes to the way Jerry Jones feels about the QB.

"He hasn't extended Dak's contract. So, that leads me to believe he truly doesn't believe in Dak. If he had, then I think he would have already got a contract extension."

Of course, Owens' recommendation to Jerry will probably never go down ... Dak seems destined for the franchise tag this offseason, while Tom would likely retire before leaving New England to play in Dallas.

Isaac Bruce is a Hall of Fame finalist ... again ... making the Final 15 for modern-era players and it just so happens we spoke with the WR recently about why he belongs in Canton.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame just released the 2020 Finalist list ... which includes stars like Troy Polamalu, Edgerrin James, Zach Thomas, John Lynch, Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, LeRoy Butler, Steve Atwater, Richard Seymour, Bryant Young, Alan Faneca, Tony Boselli, Steve Hutchinson and Sam Mills.

As for Bruce, the ex-Rams superstar was a finalist in 2019 as well ... but didn't make the final HoF cut.

We just spoke with Isaac in October and he was candid about how badly he wants to be enshrined ... telling us he thinks his numbers are as competitive as any WR who ever played.

FYI, Bruce has a 16-YEAR career in the pros ... with 1,024 receptions (13th all-time), 15,208 receiving yards (5th all-time) and 91 TDs (12th all-time).

NOT BAD AT ALL!

David Stern -- Hall of Fame ex-NBA Commissioner -- has died 3 weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

The NBA says Stern passed away Wednesday afternoon with his wife, Dianne, and their family at his bedside.

As we reported ... Stern was in serious condition after undergoing emergency brain surgery to address the sudden hemorrhage he suffered at a Manhattan restaurant on December 12. Sadly, he was unable to make a recovery.

David took over as commissioner of the NBA in 1984 and ushered incredible growth in the league over his 30-year tenure. Of course, he was in charge during the heyday of Bird, Magic and Michael ... and helped the NBA become the global juggernaut it is today.

Tom Brokaw got a very rude awakening on the first day of the 2020s ... but it ultimately saved his life.

The former "NBC Nightly News" anchor and his wife awoke to a blaze in their Upper East Side building Wednesday morning, which was reportedly 2 floors above their 12th-floor apartment.

Brokaw tells The Post he and his wife were "very, very fortunate" to escape the fire, and he heaps praise on the FDNY for putting it out and getting everyone to safety.

He says their dogs woke them up a bit after midnight and when they went to the hallway, firefighters were on their way to fight the blaze ... which was really scary.

Overall, 100 firefighters were called to the scene and were able to get it under control by 2:30 AM. The fire resulted in one minor injury, and a civilian and 5 firefighters were taken to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries ... according to FDNY.

Justin Bieber was anything but despacito on the ice over the weekend ... 'cause after the Biebs put home a goal in his pick-up hockey game, he celebrated like a mad man!!!

Watch the video ... JB's celly after tickling the twine was Tier One -- there was knuckle dragging, figure skating spins and even a sweet one-legged pose to cap it all off!!!

It's unclear where Bieber was getting in some on-ice run ... but we're all sure as hell glad someone brought the camera, 'cause Justin put on a show.

The 25-year-old scored a bunch of goals in the game ... and he even wrote of one of his saucy, behind-the-back shots, "Like my wife always says.... I got good hands."

Of course, Bieber had every right to toot his own horn ... Justin was pretty nasty on the ice -- even Quavo chimed in on the vids, saying, "That's hard."

In fact, his moves caught the attention of NHL officials ... who tweeted out Bieber's backhand themselves!!!

Pat Shurmur is DONE in New York ... the Giants just announced they fired their coach after 2 dreadful seasons -- and reports say they're gunning for Josh McDaniels to replace him.

Shurmur was just 9-23 since he was hired back in 2018 ... and his team didn't show many signs of life despite a decent roster this season.

"This morning, we made the very difficult decision that it would be in the best interest of the franchise that we relieve Pat of his duties," team president John Mara said in a statement.

"Pat has been a successful and highly-respected NFL coach for 21 years and he is not solely responsible for our record. But we came to the conclusion it is best to have a fresh start with the coaching staff."

As for who could be next to lead the G-Men in 2020 ... reports say the team has already requested an interview with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

The 43-year-old has been Tom Brady's right-hand man in New England, but despite being a hot head coaching candidate for years -- he's been reluctant to leave since he failed at his only head coaching gig in Denver back in 2009.

McDaniels -- who was fired from the Broncos after one and a half seasons -- famously accepted the Indianapolis Colts' job in 2018, but backed out of it just days later, opting to stay in New England instead.