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An Iranian wrestling champ is slated to be executed over his alleged role in a 2018 protest against the government ... and now people from all over the world are begging for mercy.

The Islamic Republic of Iran's Supreme Court confirmed 27-year-old Navid Afkari received TWO death sentences for participating in protests against the government's economic policies.

Afkari is a decorated wrestler in Iran who has medaled in multiple national tournaments, according to several reports.

Navid and his 2 brothers were each charged with more than 20 different crimes -- including "attending illegal gatherings, assembly and conspiracy to commit crimes against national security, and insulting the supreme leader."

All 3 men were found guilty -- but Navid is the only one set to die for the alleged crimes.

His brothers each received lengthy prison sentences -- and were ordered to receive 74 lashes.

In addition to his death sentences, Navid is also set to receive 74 lashes.

Navid's mother made a video condemning the sham trial against her sons ... calling it an "unjust court hearing full of lies."

"My sons were not able to defend themselves at all."

Also, The Human Rights Activists News Agency says it has a letter from Navid explaining how Iranian authorities used torture to extract confessions.

In the purported letter, Navid says his captures used a plastic bag to cover his head and poured alcohol into his nostrils.

"Sucks so hard that some a-holes live forever and some really cool people die young."

That's Joe Rogan keeping it honest on the death of Chadwick Boseman ... saying he was crushed when he heard the news of the actor's death.

"I just looked at the news and said, 'F*ck!!!!'" Rogan said on SiriusXM's "Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith."

"Just instantly, "F*ck. That guy was cool."

Didn't seem like Rogan knew Boseman personally -- but it's clear from the interview Joe had a tremendous amount of respect for the "Black Panther" star ... for what he did both on and off the screen.

"He was such a brilliant guy."

Rogan says he understands the impact the movie "Black Panther" had on the Black community -- and credits Boseman for playing the lead role to perfection.

"He was so perfect in the role -- as a human being outside of the movie, he was so perfect."

So, when Rogan learned Boseman passed away Friday after a secret 4-year battle with colon cancer, he could barely contain his emotions.

"It also speaks to his character that he suffered in silence like that and he didn’t make a big deal of the fact he was trying to get through cancer. It's a bummer man."

RIP

Ya won't hear about Ezekiel Elliott and his teammates pulling a Mike Clevinger this season ... 'cause the Dallas Cowboys superstar says his team will not risk getting COVID by doing "anything dumb."

Of course, 25-year-old Zeke was one of many NFLers who actually tested positive for coronavirus this past offseason ... and now that he's back to 100%, he says he's making sure his guys will be conscious of their decisions off the field.

"You don't wanna miss games because you got COVID," Zeke said to reporters on Monday. "So, I mean we all are here to play football. We're not gonna do anything dumb to jeopardize that."

Remember, the NFL will function similar to MLB ... which dealt with multiple COVID outbreaks and some COVID rule-breaking drama when then-Cleveland Indian Clevinger and teammate Zach Plesac broke protocol to party with bros.

Since there won't be a bubble system like the NBA, Zeke says it's on the players to keep each other from making bad decisions.

"So, I mean just staying safe and it's really not about you, it's about the guy next to you. You don't wanna get that guy sick. You don't wanna have him going home to his family and get it. It's more of a accountability thing. Just keeping each other accountable."

If you wanna live like a 2-time Super Bowl MVP, here's your chance -- Eli Manning put his New Jersey mansion on the market for $5.25 million!!!

Of course, the retired NY Giants signal-caller no longer has to commute to MetLife Stadium for work, so he's parting ways with his 9,000-square-foot home ... and the crib is NICE!!!

The mansion was built in 1904 and renovated by Manning in 2015 -- and it comes with 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths and 4 half baths, 8 fireplaces, a huge marbled-out gourmet kitchen and a home gym.

The crib sits on 1.1. acres with an in-ground pool in the backyard -- and you better believe it's got a heated pool for those cold NJ winters.

Oh, and inside the pool house is a GOLF SIMULATOR for you to work on that swing. The place also has a huge wine cellar that can hold up to 750 bottles ... so you'll basically have your own Top Golf location!!

The property -- listed by Hallee Dangler of Prominent Properties SIR -- hit the market recently and can be yours for $5.25 million.

President Trump says cops who use deadly force and shoot someone are exactly like nervous golfers who can't sink the last shot ... seriously, he compared the two.

DT sat down for an interview with FOX News' Laura Ingraham Monday night, and while discussing high-profile police incidents lately -- especially with Black men -- Trump brought up Jacob Blake ... saying the officer who fired 7 times might as well have been Tiger Woods on a bad day.

It was so outrageous and tone-deaf, even Ingraham tried to steer him away, but Trump stuck to his guns ... and said cops who use lethal force are like golfers who "choke."

Trump did question whether the Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey, could've done something else other than shoot -- like tackling him -- but the comparison he made is still shocking and utterly lacking in empathy. As you know, Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka wore a Breonna Taylor tribute mask to her 1st round match at the U.S. Open on Monday ... and says she's got more tributes planned.

The 22-year-old has been very outspoken about social justice issues lately -- and even "boycotted" a match at a different tournament last week in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting.

So, when she arrived at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, she rocked the Breonna mask to help "spread awareness" about the Taylor case.

"I'm aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesn't know Breonna Taylor's story," Osaka said.

"Maybe they'll like Google it or something. For me, just spreading awareness. I feel like the more people know the story, then the more interesting or interested they'll become in it."

26-year-old Taylor was shot and killed at her apartment back in March when Louisville cops executed a no-knock warrant. Her boyfriend says he fired a warning shot because he thought the officers were intruders but they returned fire, striking Taylor 8 times.

After Osaka won her opening match Monday against Misaki Doi, she said she has 6 more masks she plans on wearing throughout the tournament to honor other victims of police brutality.

"It's quite sad that seven masks isn't enough for the amount of names, so hopefully I'll get to the finals and you can see all of them."

Osaka is expected to return to the court Wednesday to take on Camila Giorgi.

Washington NFL players will now be reminded of Sean Taylor every time they drive into work ... 'cause the team says it's renaming a street after the legendary safety right near its practice facility.

The team announced the planned honor on Tuesday ... saying the street will be formally renamed to "Sean Taylor Road" at some point prior to its 1st game against the Philadelphia Eagles later this month.

The team also says it'll rename a road near its franchise headquarters after legendary head coach Joe Gibbs ... with owner Dan Snyder saying the two moves are all part of major efforts to rebrand the org.

"The renaming of these streets along with all of the changes being made to our stadium are just part of our long-term goal of improving every element of the Washington Football Team, both off and on the field,” Snyder said.

Taylor -- a 1st round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft -- was shot and killed during a home invasion in 2007.

Before his death, Taylor was building a reputation as one of the best defensive players in the league ... making the Pro Bowl in 2 out of his 3 seasons. He's also been added to the Washington Ring of Fame.

Taylor is still revered by nearly EVERY player that plays the safety position ... in fact, when team star Landon Collins signed with Wash. in 2019, he famously wanted to wear Taylor's number to honor him.

Daniel Cormier is a LUCKY man -- because somehow he was able to recover from the torn cornea he suffered in his loss to Stipe Miocic ... and won't need eye surgery.

Cormier's left eye got so badly injured from an accidental finger poke during his August 15 UFC heavyweight title fight ... he couldn't open it during the last 2 rounds.

After the fight, Cormier told Joe Rogan, "I can't see anything out of my left eye. It's black."

But, DC appeared on ESPN's "DC & Helwani Show" on Monday and revealed he's actually healing up nicely.

"Luckily I was able to recover, and I feel better," Cormier said,

"The first week and a half, [the eye] was really bad, it wasn't opening, and it was completely blurry, but now it kind of feels like an eyelash is in it."

"I went and saw the doctor last week, and he told me I'm probably not going to have to have surgery, just kind of rest and recover. And today it feels good, but just feels like something in there, you know when you get an eyelash and can't get it out? It's just right in the corner."

It's great news, considering how bad it looked at the time.

As for his fighting future, Cormier insists he's done competing -- and will now focus on growing his career outside the Octagon.

"Yeah, it's over. And I'm not sad about it," Cormier said.

"I'm going to miss it, I'm going to miss the training camps, I'm going to miss the fights, there's nothing like a fight week, but you have to understand when it's your time. I feel it's time."

WARNING: THIS VID WILL RAISE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE!!!

Here's PGA Tour star Ian Poulter putting a VERY EXPENSIVE Ferrari at risk all for a silly trick shot video ... and it's nerve-racking as hell!!

The 44-year-old golfer -- who made the clip to try to create some buzz for a credit card company -- pulled his whip out of the garage and then took aim at it with a ball and a wedge.

FYI -- the car appears to be a LaFerrari Aperta ... which can cost around $2 MILLION -- and yeah, it's tough not to sweat watching this!!!

Poulter, though, was able to chip the golf ball through the tiny windows on the ride no problem ... and like a boss, he got back in the car, revved it up and took off.

Pretty freakin' cool, huh?!

For his part, Poulter admitted the whole thing was a big-time adrenaline rush ... saying, "How else would I practice playing with Ryder Cup pressure."

Jimmy Butler says he refuses to let his family join him inside the NBA bubble in Orlando ... because it's a "business trip" and he doesn't want to be distracted!

FOR REAL!

The Miami Heat star explained himself to "NBA on TNT" sideline reporter Allie LaForce -- who passed it along to viewers Monday night while Butler was DROPPIN' 40 on the Milwaukee Bucks.

LaForce said while some players and coaches were excited to finally welcome wives girlfriends and children into the bubble -- people they haven't seen in person in months -- Jimmy was drawing a hard line.

"No offense to families but Jimmy Butler said, 'This is a business trip for me. I’m not messing around.'"

"Everyone wants to have their family, without a doubt. But we’ve been doing this for this long. What’s another couple of months?"

Jimmy concluded, "It is an individual decision and I respect that decision that my teammates make but for me, I’m here for business.”

WOW.

Butler has a baby daughter back home who's about to turn one in October ... but she'll have to chill out before Daddy can celebrate!

Meanwhile, Butler has definitely been handling business -- he played spectacularly Monday night ... and has led the Heat to the Conference Semifinals, where they're already up 1-0 on the mighty Bucks.

Of course, not everyone feels the same as Jimmy -- Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet brought his family into the Bubble this week ... and the reunion was ADORABLE!

The NBA has warned players to make sure their guests don't wild out at games -- no cussing, no storming the court, etc.

Jaguars legend Maurice Jones-Drew says he was straight-up "shocked" to see the team cut Leonard Fournette ... telling TMZ Sports he has no idea how the move improves Jacksonville's roster.

"Leonard Fournette is one of their best players on their team," MJD says. "How are you better without him?!"

"How does that happen?!" the former NFL running back added. "How do you get rid of this guy?!"

Maurice says even if Fournette had a locker room personality that team officials didn't love ... he still thinks the best move would have been to keep the star RB in a Jags uniform.

"To me, in this league, it's all about you have to have a talented team to win," says Jones-Drew, who's currently KILLING it as an NFL Network analyst. "You can't win in this league without talent."

Jones-Drew says if he were running the Jags ... he would've certainly kept Fournette on the roster despite his past ups and downs with the team.

In fact, Maurice says he would have found a way to keep guys like Jalen Ramsey, Dante Fowler and Yannick Ngakoue on the roster as well.

But, MJD insists he ain't mad at his former team for the moves ... and tells us he's still holding out hope his ex-squad can wrap up a perfect 16-0 season this year.

Bronny James is taking his talents to the sticks by joining the world-famous FaZe Clan ... and his superstar father is giving his stamp of approval!!

The move was announced Sunday ... with the 15-year-old H.S. hoops prodigy getting a big introduction from the pro Esports group.

"He's got n̶e̶x̶t̶ now.⁣ Join us in welcoming @bronny to FaZe Clan 👑⁣" the post said on IG ... featuring a pic of James decked out in FaZe gear and a chain of the team's logo.

The Sierra Canyon star is an avid gamer off the court, playing games like Fortnite and Call of Duty.

But, don't get it twisted -- Bronny made his intentions clear shortly after the news broke, saying he's still focused on the bigger picture.

"Me joining faze don't change anything," Bronny said. "I'm still locked, coming for heads."

LeBron echoed his son's message, saying, "Straight Up Simba!"

Of course, the Lakers superstar has always talked about his dream of playing alongside his oldest in the NBA ... and it seems he's not worried about video games taking away from that possibility.

The Bronny news comes one week after superstar Ben Simmons also joined forces with FaZe as an investor ... adding to a list of celeb-backers like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Offset and Swae Lee.

John Thompson -- one of the greatest and most important coaches in college basketball history -- has died. He was 78.

Thompson passed away Monday morning. The circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear.

Thompson was the first Black head coach to win a major college championship, when he led Georgetown to the NCAA title in 1984.

That team featured stars like Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams and David Wingate.

Thompson coached at Georgetown for 27 seasons -- and has the most wins in the school's history ... racking up 596 wins.

Before his coaching days, Thompson was a college basketball star at Providence -- where he was an honorable mention All-American in 1964.

He was later selected in the 3rd-round of the 1964 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics -- where he played for 2 seasons. Oh, the team won the NBA title in both of those seasons!

After that, Thompson became a high school basketball coach in Washington D.C. before making the jump to Georgetown ... and the rest is history.

Among the stars who played for Thompson -- Ewing, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo.

Thompson ultimately resigned from Georgetown in January 1999 -- and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.

Iverson famously credited Thompson for "saving my life" after he was accused of hurting people in a bowling alley brawl in 1993.

Thompson didn't turn his back on Iverson as the case played out -- he supported him until an appears court overturned multiple convictions against A.I..

Iverson brought up the situation in his Hall of Fame speech, saying he wouldn't be there without Thompson.

“I want to thank Coach Thompson. For saving my life," Iverson said ... "For giving me the opportunity."

"I was recruited by every school in the country for football and basketball. And an incident happened in high school and all that was taken away. No other teams, no other schools were recruiting me anymore. My mom went to Georgetown and begged him to give me a chance. And he did."

RIP

This is the most adorable video you'll see today!!

Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet reunited with his 2 kids after more than a month inside the NBA bubble on Monday ... and they were so excited to see their daddy, they ran right into his arms!!

Of course, players and families are starting to reconnect during the 2nd round of the playoffs ... with a limited number of loved ones allowed to enter the bubble after quarantining.

FVV's high school sweetheart, Shontai Neal, shared the emotional moment on Instagram ... showing 1-year-old Fred Jr. and 2-year-old Sanaa overly excited to see their dad on the Disney World campus.

The VanVleets have been supporting their dad from home ... with Sanaa cheering on Fred from home in a cute video last month.

Nick Saban put on his walking shoes and got to marching Monday -- leading the Alabama football team in a social justice demonstration on campus.

Saban, decked out in white polo, grey pants and a COVID mask, charged through Tuscaloosa from the athletic facility toward Foster Auditorium -- where some members of the team gave speeches.

Among the players at the march, star running back Najee Harris, according to reporter Simone Eli.

Some of the players wore shirts with messages like, "Black Lives Matter, "Equality" and "Defend Black Lives."

Some of the players carried a black lives matter banner.

During the march, Saban reportedly told the media he felt "like a proud parent."

"I'm proud of our team, I'm proud of our messengers and I'm proud of our message," he added.

Alabama is one of the major college football programs that WILL play in 2020.

The Crimson Tide -- ranked #3 in the country in some preseason polls -- is slated to take on Missouri on Sept. 26th.

Another insanely rare trading card could crack the $2 MILLION mark at auction ... and no, it's neither MJ nor LeBron.

It's an ultra-rare signed Giannis Antetokounmpo basketball card that features a piece of a game-worn jersey from the Greek Freak's rookie season.

The card was originally pulled out of a pack of Panini America's 2013-14 high-end "National Treasures" line ... and features the NBA "Logoman" patch from one of Giannis' rookie jerseys.

It's a 1-of-1 card -- so, it's super rare -- but the fact it was graded a MINT 9 by the Beckett Grading Service makes it even more desirable for hardcore collectors.

Even better ... the signature on the card received a perfect "10" grading from the Beckett autograph evaluators as well.

Again, the high-grading number makes a HUGE difference for collectors at the high-end level.

The person who initially pulled the card from a pack years ago sold it to another collector -- and after changing hands a few times, it's now hitting the auction block over at Goldin Auctions, where they believe there's a strong chance it could break the record for most expensive basketball card ever sold.

Of course, a rare (and similar) LeBron James' 2003-2004 Upper Deck rookie card is currently the G.O.A.T. piece when it comes to basketball cards ... it famously sold for $1.8 MIL last month.

The LeBron card was NOT a 1-of-1 -- there were 23 of those made ... and Bron has bragged that he has a few sitting around at his home.

The rare-card market is ON FIRE right now -- a Topps 2009 Superfractor Mike Trout card just sold at auction for $3.93 mil ... the most expensive sports trading card to ever sell on the open market.

As for Giannis, the bidding began at $250k on Monday -- and after a flurry of quick bids, it's already about to crack the $500,000 mark!!!

Ken Goldin, who runs Goldin Auctions, says he wouldn't be surprised if it cracked $2 mil by the time the bidding ends on Sept. 20th.

Remember when everyone said the trading card market was dead?!