Greg Cote: Brady, Fangio, Irving, Jazz & a merciful death to the Pro Bowl in newest Hot Button Top 10

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 5): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our online-only, every-Sunday Hot Button Top 10 is what’s on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s major, offbeat, damnable, funny or worth needling, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Think of it as 10 lil’ mini-columns. Welcome to the third edition of the new and re-imagined HB10:

1. TOM BRADY: What’s ahead for the G.O.A.T. as he retires (and means it this time): I worry about the guy, honestly. I mean, other than basking in an historic career, awaiting the Hall of Fame., having a $375 million TV deal with Fox Sports waiting, maybe being a Dolphins part-owner, and sailing around on his yacht as the world’s most eligible bachelor -- what on Earth does the poor fella have to look forward to!? Speaking of Tom...

1a. MOVIES: ‘80 For Brady.’ Seriously? Afraid so: We can’t agree on anything in this country. But we should all agree, based on the trailer and TV ads, that “80 For Brady” -- the new movie that opened Friday about four octogenarian women sneaking into the Super Bowl to see heartthrob Tom Brady -- looks like the worst attempt at film since “Ishtar.” Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Lily Tomlin, better you should have started a GoFundMe page.

3. KYRIE IRVING: He wants out of Brooklyn; Miami among suitors?: Never-happy Kyrie wants a trade before the February 9 NBA deadline or will become a free agent this summer. Reports are the Lakers, Mavericks and Suns are frontrunners. Pat Riley has long coveted Irving and Heat has a need -- but do they have the trade assets with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler off the table? I’d offer up any combo of Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Jovic and Dewayne Dedmon. Don’t much care for K.I. as a person. But as a difference-making player? For the right price ... yes, please.

4. DOLPHINS: Bada bing! Fins land Vic Fangio after all: Vic Fangio sounds like the name of a character hanging out with Tony Soprano at the Bada Bing. He also is a god of sorts in the defensive-coordinator business, and now Miami has him, after three or four days of doubt when it seemed he might jilt the Dolphins and run at the speed of light to the 49ers’ sudden opening. Nope. Vic reconfirmed his I-do to Miami (bada bing!) and will sign after the Super Bowl that his Philadelphia Eagles (he’s a defensive consultant) are in.

5. HEAT: Snub-a-dub-dub: Butler left off NBA All-Star team: Bam Adebayo made it, but Jimmy Butler should have, too. The negative: He’s missed 15 games with injuries. The positives: Everything else. Has his highest scoring average since 2018, leads NBA in steals, drives to eam 8.2 free throws per night, and is shooting a career-best 55.6 percent on 2-point shots. Also the best perimeter stopper for a top-five defense.

6. NFL: Pro Bowl, R.I.P. Now to give the eulogy, Mr. Tyler Huntley: Ravens backup Tyler Huntley is a Pro Bowl quarterback for 2022 after throwing two touchdowns. Not in a game. In a season. He was picked because so many others infinitely more deserving backed out with injuries real or not, because the actual Pro Bowl game was bad enough and now it has devolved embarrassingly into Saturday’s flag football game coached by the Manning brothers. End it, already! Time to put the Pro Bowl out of our misery. Keep selecting Pro Bowl teams, but please jettison the skills competition and flag game to deep outer space.

7. MARLINS: ‘MLB: The Show ‘23’ shows love for Jazz: Marlins 2B-turned-CF Jazz Chisholm, 25, surprisingly graces the cover of the 2023 MLB: The Show video game. “My spark can’t be contained,” tweeted Jazz, conveying the technicolor personality that helped him land what might be called a face-of-baseball honor. Now all Jazz has to do -- with a .243 career average and after missing most of last season injured -- is start living up to the hype.

8. WNBA: Breanna Stewart stars in free-agency blockbuster: If an NBA-equivalent move had happened, ESPN SportsCenter would be on it 24-7. That’s how big Breanna Stewart leaving Seattle for the New-now-Stew York Liberty is in women’s hoops -- the biggest free-agent move in WNBA history. Stewart, 28, is a two-time league champ, former league MVP, twice a Finals MVP and the 2022 scoring champion. The modest national coverage reminds us the WNBA -- and the media’s attention to it -- still have some growing-up to do.

9. NBA: The Meyers Leonard rehab tour is underway: Meyers Leonard, 30, worked out for the L.A. Lakers this week. He last played in the league, for the Miami Heat, in January 2021 and was fined and suspended that March for using an antisemitic slur while playing a video game during a live stream. Unsigned, he spent time rehabbing shoulder and ankle surgeries the past two seasons. Anybody want a used bench guy with cringy baggage?

10. SOCCER: MLS joins the Billionaire’s Club: Forbes loves rankings and lists (says the man writing a Hot Button Top 10), and its latest is a valuation of the 28 Major League Soccer franchises. Los Angeles FC is No. 1 at an even $1 billion -- a first for MLS at that plateau. Inter Miami is 11th, valued at $600 million. Need to resuscitate those intermittent Messi-to-Miami rumors to goose that total! (Alas, new competition for Davd Beckham, with the Saudi Pro League, after landing Ronaldo, now setting its sights on Messi should he leave Paris Saint-Germain.)

Other stuff from me this past week: Worth the wait: Dolphins land defensive ace in Fangio / G.O.A.T.: Brady retires and this time he means it / Super Bowl primer: Historic QB duel, the Kelces and more / And my latest podcast: