Messi, now Lillard? Star power & winning make this best time ever to be sports fan in Miami | Opinion
Greater Miami has not cheered a champion in any top-tier sport for 10 years now, since the Heat last reigned in 2013. But the overall state of South Florida’s major teams is buoyantly better and lifted higher with excitement and optimism right now than it has ever been -- and I say ever through a prism of having covered athletes and games in this market for 50 years.
I get criticized sometimes for being a homer, and this column will enable those who think it, but without apology, this has fairly suddenly blossomed as a sports town to rival any in the country. What a time to be a fan of any of our big-five professional teams. What a time to be a fan of all of them!
Appreciate the growing landscape abloom, for it is so rare when all of our crops are abundant at once. Consider: When LeBron James and the Big 3 Heat were the big thing the first half of the 2010s, the Dolphins were stuck in 7-9 purgatory, the Marlins were striving for mediocrity, the Florida Panthers weren’t much better and Inter Miami soccer didn’t exist yet.
Now, today:
▪ Inter Miami plans this coming Sunday’s grand introduction of Lionel Messi, seven-time global player of the year and G.O.A.T. of G.O.A.T.s, culminating three years’ pursuit by David Beckham, et al. The Major League Soccer franchise born into a pandemic is having a lousy season in its fourth year, but that suddenly is irrelevant. Messi has arrived, and he’s brought former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba with him. Remember how big it felt when LeBron took his talents to South Beach? Messi to Miami dwarfs that for international scale.
▪ The Heat, fresh off an NBA Finals loss, good but reaching for great, continues to be a frontrunner, working a trade for Damian Lillard, who has asked to play here. The Portland superstar who averaged 32.2 points last season would pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo to raise Miami to another level as a championship contender.
▪ The Panthers are the best team and franchise they have ever been, fresh off the club’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 27 years. And that followed a Presidents’ Trophy season for best record (most points) in hockey.
▪ The Marlins at the All-Star Break have the fourth-best record in MLB and are on playoff pace. Their winning percentage of .576 is better than that of the teams that won World Series titles in 1997 and 2003. It is fair to be skeptical whether this at long last marks the beginning of sustained success, but enjoy it in the meantime.
▪ The Dolphins are about to open training camp following three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2001-03, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, after two middling seasons, blossomed in year three. For Dolfans the playoffs have gone from wobbly hope to firm expectation.
(Our focus on the big-five pro teams must not ignore that Miami Hurricanes’ men’s basketball made the Final Four for the first time this past spring while the UM women made the Sweet 16 for the first time. Frankly, it is Canes football, off a 5-7 first season under new coach Mario Cristobal, that is feeling the most heat, by a lot, of any of our biggest teams).
Boldness at the ownership and executive levels, major moves, have ignited the pro-side renaissance South Florida is enjoying.
I’ve been plenty critical of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross over the years, including his tampering with Tom Brady that cost the team a first-round draft pick in April, but he opened the wallet for the blockbuster trade with Kansas City for dynamic receiver Tyreek Hill, who last season immediately unlocked Tagovailoa’s potential.
The Panthers and under-heralded general manager Bill Zito, despite coming off a big season, changed coaches to Paul Maurice and made a huge trade to acquire Matthew Tkachuk and both moves worked fabulously. Tkachuk scored 40 goals and is signed long-term at age 25.
The Marlins remain limited by a player-payroll budget that still needs to significantly increase, but even within those constraints GM Kim Ng worked a smart trade for Luis Arraez, who is chasing a .400 season (.388 at the break) from the top of the order.
Now, Lionel Messi.
Next (the Heat hope), Damian Lillard.
No other American sports market has added more starpower in the past year, or seen all of its major teams simultaneously improve so much.
Complaint is the currency of sports fandom, and in South Florida we’d gotten very used to that.
Optimism feels pretty good, too, though, for a sweet change.
