Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Winter Olympics, Team Messi, NBA All-Star Sunday, more
[Note to readers: The Hot Button Top 10 and the Poll Dance will be off this weekend but return next week. Look for the next new HB10 on Sunday, March 1.]
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 15): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Inter Miami’s Opening Week, NBA All-Star Sunday, Winter Olympics/Team USA at midpoint in Italy, Heater wins Dunk contest, NASCAR opens with Daytona 500 and more. Welcome to 139th edition of HB10, bringing you what’s on our minds from a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. INTER MIAMI: Opening Week for reigning MLS Cup champs: Inter Miami after a 1-1-1 record in three preseason road matches will open its MLS season next Saturday Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC -- the first of five straight league road games before the April 4 grand opening of new Miami Freedom Park. A fourth preseason game, vs. Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico, was rescheduled to Feb. 26 so Lionel Messi, nursing a sore hamstring, can play. The team is hopeful Messi will be ready for the season opener in L.A. in six days.
2. OLYMPICS: U.S. 3rd in medals at Winter Games’ midpoint in Italy: We’re halfway through the Winter Olympics and Noway, host Italy and Team USA are 1-2-3 in both total medals and golds. Quick summary thus far: J.D. Vance booed at Opening Ceremony, Lindsey Vonn’s early crash, Chloe Kim denied, drone cameras, Johannes Klæbo wins Winter record-tying eighth gold, penile-injections in ski jumping, Breezy Johnson wins gold, Norwegian biathlete unwisely admits cheating on girlfriend, ‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin’s shocking stumble and U.S. men’s and women’s hockey both looking great.
3. PANTHERS: Post-Olympics, champs need huge push for playoffs: Nine Panthers are in Italy repping five nations in the Italy Winter Olympics, which has the NHL on break from Feb. 6-24. Only the Minnesota Wild have as many. Matthew Tkachuk is Florida’s only Team USA guy, with Tkachuk’s three assists contributing to America’s 2-0 start after Saturdays’ 6-3 win over Denmark. Post-Olympics, though, problems wait. Injury decimated Cats are 29-28 and on a 1-5 skid, and it’ll take a big second half just for the two-time Stanley Cup champs to make the playoffs.
4. NBA: All-Star Weekend hosted by scandalized Clippers ends Sunday: Too bad for the NBA the Clippers are hosting All-Star Weekend culminating with today’s All-Star Game -- or rather four 12-minute games in yet another format change. The Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer face a league probe over alleged under-the-table payments to Kawhi Leonard. The NBA already is beset by the tanking mess and lower TV ratings. Neither the 3-point contest nor the ghost of the Slam Dunk event (four entries) did much to reverse the NBA’s slide, although Heat’s Keshad Johnson won the Dunk.
5. HEAT: Keshad Johnson wins Dunk Contest; Miami needs second-half bounce: After a season-worst home loss to blatantly tanking Utah the Heat limped into All-Star Weekend at 29-27 awaiting the second half of the NBA schedule resuming Friday in Atlanta. Miami was repped in the All-Star Game and 3-point contest by Norman Powell, in the Rising Stars game by Kel’el Ware and Jahmir Young, and in the Slam Dunk by Keshad Johnson -- who won the event Saturday night. Heat needs to get hot as play resumes to avoid a fourth straight play-in tourney. A healthy Tyler Herro (11 games all season so far) would help.
6. NASCAR: Tightly bunched field opens season at Daytona: NASCAR season opens big today/Sunday with the Daytona 500, and betting odds show a tightly bunched field -- a.k.a. it’s anybody’s race on the super-speedway. Joey Logano is the narrow betting favorite at +1000 but tailgating are Ryan Blaney at +1100 and defending champion William Byron at +1300. Knotted at +1400 are Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.
7. NFL: Seahawks celebrate, put up For Sale sign; Combine next: An estimated 700,000 fans in Seattle celebrated the Seahawks’ Super Bowl win. Now an estimated $9 to $11 billion will be paid by somebody to buy the franchise -- an NFL record. League’s Scouting Combine Feb. 23-Mar. 2 is the big pre-Draft event. The 319 players invited include 10 from the national-champion runnerup Miami Hurricanes, led by expected first-round picks OL Francis Mauigoa and DLs Reuben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, and QB Carson Beck, an expected mid-round pick.
8. MARLINS: Expectations again modest as spring nears: Miami’s first spring training game is Feb. 21, the World Baseball Classic is Mar. 4-17 (with Marlins Park once again the hub), and the MLB season uncorks at home on March 27. Alas, projections for the Fish again are modest, with ESPN’s computerized guess at 71.8 wins, 25th of 30 clubs. Miami’s playoff shot -- almost certainly a wild-card stuck in the NL East with the powerful Braves, Mets and Phillies -- is put at 5.7 percent.
9. WNBA: Is Unrivaled league gradually leaving Miami?: The second season of the Miami-based Unrivaled league made up of WNBA stars is at its midpoint moving to a Mar. 4 championship game. Unrivaled grows in importance as the coming WNBA season is threatened by a labor dispute. But is Miami’s role as Unrivaled’s hub-city in jeopardy? After a very successful season stop in Philadelphia, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league is now moving its Mar. 2 semifinals from Miami to Brooklyn.
10. CANES HOOPS/BASEBALL: Huge win for UM men; baseball opens: Miami men’s 75-66 home win over No. 11 North Carolina put Jai Lucas’ Canes in good position to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, now 20-5 with six games left in regular season. Reeling UM women have slumped to 12-12 and won’t make the Big Dance. Meanwhile Canes baseball season is underway this week and 2-0 after opening No. 22 in preseason poll in the third season for coach J.D. Arteaga.
THE LIST: DAYTONA 500 DOMINANCE: The 68th running of the Great American Race kicks off NASCAR season on Sunday. The leaders in most all-time Daytona 500 victories:
No. Driver Wins-span
7 Richard Petty 1964-81
4 Cale Yarborough 1968-84
3 Bobby Allison 1978-88
3 Dale Jarrett 1993-2000
3 Jeff Gordon 1997-2005
3 Denny Hamlin 2016-2020
Note: Seven drivers have won twice. They include William Byron, who is going for his third straight D500 crown today.
Other select most recent stuff from me: No NFL, now what? South Florida Fans’ No-Football Survival Guide // On Bad Bunny, TV ads and what this Super Bowl can teach the Dolphins // Podcast: Inside Cote Super Bowl Party // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Patriots or Seahawks? // Super Bowl LX pick // Super Bowl With a Smirk five-part series: V, IV, III, II and I // No Giannis (yet), but Heat it’s a dream deferred, not dead // Heat needs jolt & Riley needs last great whale. Giannis is the answer // Belichick’s stunning Hall snub is a shame on sanctimonious voters // Dolphins, AFC East beware: Super Bowl signals rise of Patriots 2.0 dominance // Dolphins’ new coach, GM take on 25 years of franchise torpor and a QB mess // Canes title-game loss does not erase success of watershed season // Dolphins hire Jeff Hafley. Timing was bad. Is coach good? // Flailing, failing Dolphins in latest reboot with McDaniel firing // Rams’ Stafford wins 1st season title in Herald’s 28th NFL QB rankings // Dolphins enter offseason with no answers at QB after loss at Patriots // Canes’ ‘violent, relentless’ defeat of Ohio State is Miami’s biggest win in 23 years // Step aside, other cities: Why 2026 in sports belongs to Miami // Stugotz signs major iHeart Media deal, but says not done with LeBatard Show // Canes stifle A&M with defense, advance in CFP to face Ohio State // Messi, Inter Miami win MLS Cup, crown 50 years of SoFla soccer // How Browns fan’s tragedy gave Bernie Kosar new life // How Miami project -- and forgiveness -- helped Marc Buoniconti turn tragedy to triumph // Barkov lost for season a mortal blow to Panthers’ 3-peat bid // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast:
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 9:23 AM.
