Greg Cote: Stars aligning for Heat, Panthers to reach NBA, NHL Finals & more in new Hot Button Top 10

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 21): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 feature had been blog-only but with our blog now retired it moved, re-imagined, to online-only. HB10 means 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. Welcome to the 17th edition of the new HB10:

1. HEAT: Jimmy Frickin’ Butler has Boston wallowing in a 2-0 hole: Aside to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla: Should you find yourself updating your resume’ for the next job search soon, thank Celtics player Grant Williams for helping it happen. Williams poked the bear. The bear poked back. Williams got into a jawing match with Jimmy Butler as Boston led 96-87 with six minutes left in Game 2. Butler thereafter scored nine late points and No. 8-seed Miami brings a 2-0 Eastern finals lead back home to the 3-0-5 Sunday night.

2. PANTHERS: NHL Final Four, Amazin’ Panthers a wonderful affront to Hockey Tradition: This was the year for the Original Six to raise the flag for hockey tradition, yeah? A city where it snows would win the Stanley Cup! Boston, it sure seemed. Or might Toronto finally end the long Canadian drought? Well ... turned out it was the year of the interloper instead. Four cities where ice outdoors wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. Two football towns, one area where college hoops is king, the other known for gambling. Florida-Carolina in the Eastern finals and Dallas-Vegas in the West. Tradition wept. Ain’t it great!? (And how ‘bout those No. 8-seed Cats, heading home up 2-0 on Carolina!)

3. NBA: Spurs hit sure-thing jackpot with Wembanyama ... right?: San Antonio will remember it like it was the Alamo: The night the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery for dibs on 19-year-old 7-2 French phenom Victor Wembanyama. Now season-ticket sales are spiking as Spurs fans anticipate inheriting a sure-fire generational superstar seen as the best prospect since LeBron James. “Absolutely can’t-miss, no doubt about it ,” agreed Sam Bowie, Kwame Brown, Greg Oden and Darko Milicic.

4. GOLF: Boo-magnet Koepka leads PGA Championship into Sunday: Brooks Koepka had a four-under 66 on a rainy Saturday at Oak Hill and brings a 1-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship, the “fourth major” the other three make fun of when they get together for drinks. Tioger Woods isn;t playing, but it’s being televised anyway. We delighted to hear riavls and fellow LIV Golf defectors Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau both vigorously booed by fans.

5. HORSE RACING: National Treasure win wins Preakness ... so no Triple Crown: National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore Saturday. Kentucky Derby winner Mage finished third, s no Triple Crown this year. It was the record eighth Preakness win for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, hours after another of his horses was put down by an injury in an earlier race. o horse will take home the coveted Triple Crown this year. In Baffert’s wake you’ll always find winning and controversy in equal measure.

6. NBA: Elevator pitch to Ja Morant: “So, Ja, you waited all of a few months after your last gun-video mess to step into another one, huh? Appreciate the restraint. At least you’re accepting full “accountability” again. Useless word. Weak. How about you accept that the employer paying you crazy millions to play basketball and the fans who want so badly to cheer for you deserve better. How about you look in the mirror, see a man throwing everything away, ditch the pretend-gangsta facade before it’s too late, and take a shot at growing up?”

7. NFL: Jim Brown, 1936-2023. R.I.P.: History now lovingly holds Jim Brown, gone this week at 87. He is the forever-standard for an NFL running back despite playing only nine years of 12- and 14-game seasons before retiring at age 30. His work then as a civil rights activist distinguished him beyond football. Like Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell, in Brown’s passing we lose an epic, bigger-than-sports figure from an epoch in time.

8. WNBA: Free again, and the flag looks different to Brittney Griner: Brittney Griner’s 2023 WNBA regular-season debut Friday minted her comeback from almost 10 months in a Russian jail. And she stood for the national anthem -- proudly. Griner in 2020 said she did not feel the anthem shoujld be played at games and was not on the court when it was. Now: “You have the right to protest, to speak out, question, challenge and do all these things,” she said. “[After what I went through], it just means a little bit more to me now. So I want to be able to stand. Just being able to hear my national anthem, see my flag, I definitely want to stand.” Those who came out to watch included VP Kamala Harris, Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Miami sports’ streak due a screeching halt with Canes?: Heat and Panthers both unexpectedly in their Eastern finals. UM hoops off big seasons. Dolphins are good. But Hurricanes football? Hmm. After a 5-7 debut for Mario Cristobal, little better is forecast for 2023. Canes wins over/under is put at 6 1/2 by sportsbetting.ag, minor-bowl territory and well off ACC frontrunners Florida State (10 1/2) and Clemson (9 1/2). Georgia tops all at 11 1/2, with Alabama, Michigan and Ohio State joining FSU at 10 1/2. Notable among the dregs at 3 1/2: FIU and Colorado, a.k.a Deion (“Coach Prime”) Sanders.

10. SOCCER: Man City headed for elusive first Champions League crown: Manchester City and Inter Milan (a.k.a. Internazionale) scored decisive semifinal advances and are headed to the men’s final of the UEFA Champions League June 10 in Istanbul. Man City, runnerup in 2021, is a heavy betting fave to score its long elusive first Champs League crown. Inter Milan won in 1964, ‘65 and 2010. Barcelona are favored to take the women’s crown over Wolfsburg June 3 in the Netherlands.

Other most recent stuff from me: Chucky & Barky & Bob, oh my! Panthers win in OT again, lead 2-0 over Panthers / Heat rising, Celtics disappearing as Miami takes 2-0 lead in East finals / Exhilaration, exhaustion: Panthers win in 4 OTs takes East finals opener in Carolina / America, are you believing in Heat yet? Butler’s 35 has Miami up 1-0 on Boston / In divisive times, Heat and Panthers remind us of unifying power of sports / Previous HB10 from last Sunday / And my latest podcast: