Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Kyle Busch, Knicks, Team Messi, Marlins, Barca and more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 24): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Enjoy the long Memorial Day Weekend but also give it the reflection and thanks the holiday’s meaning deserves. Today: NASCAR mourns Kyle Busch, Knicks on verge of first NBA Finals since 1999, Inter Miami gets hot, Vegas up 2-0 in NHL, Marlins win Cellar Series, Canes baseball awaits Regional call, Barca wins Women’s Champions League, French Open begins and more. Welcome to 150th edition (yay!) 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. AUTO RACING: Sport mourns Kyle Busch as first woman attempts ‘Double Duty’ today: NASCAR star Kyle Busch, two-time Cup Series champion, died unexpectedly Thursday of severe pneumonia resulting in sepsis, casting a pall over today’s big annual racing doubleheader. Katherine Legge today will try to become only the sixth driver, first woman, first non-American (she’s British) and oldest driver (at 45) to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and later the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day. Overall betting favorites are reigning champ Alex Palou in Indy and Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR race, which Busch had been scheduled to run in. All 39 cars Sunday will have a small black No. 8 decal in Busch’s honor. He was polarizing. But even those who hated him now know: He will be missed.
2. NBA: Knicks on verge of sweep; Thunder leads in West: The New York Knicks made it 3-0 over Cleveland on Saturday night and are now a Monday win back in Ohio from an Eastern finals sweep and their first NBA Finals since 1999. The Knicks are after their first league championship since 1973. Out West, reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City leads San Antonio 2-1 after overcoming a 15-0 Game 3 start. Game 4 is tonight/Sunday in Texas.
3. INTER MIAMI: On a roll, Team Messi hosts Philly tonight before World Cup break: Hot Inter Miami has won three straight MLS matches -- including its long-awaited first win at the new stadium -- and is now 8-2 with four draws and in second place in the East standings entering a home game tonight/Sunday vs. the Philadelphia Union. This will be the last league action prior to its one-month break for the World Cup. After tonight Miami will be off until July 22.
4. SOCCER: Countdown 17 days ‘til World Cup; four from Miami on call: The five-week-long, 48-nation men’s World Cup kicks off June 11 across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and Inter Miami is expected to be represented by four players when rosters are finalized next week on June 1. Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul are set for reigning champion Argentina, German Berterame for Mexico, and Dayne St. Clair for Canada. The first of seven matches to be held at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium will be Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay June 15 in group-stage play.
5. NHL: Carolina OT goal ties East finals; Vegas with stunning 2-0 West lead: Carolina tied its NHL East conference finals series with Montreal 1-1 with an overtime goal Saturday. Game 3 is Monday in Canada. Out West Vegas carries a stunning 2-0 lead over favored Colorado into Game 3 tonight/Sunday in Sin City. Vegas (2023) and Colorado (’22) have won the Stanley Cup recently. Carolina last won in 2006 and Montreal in 1993.
6. MARLINS: Meyer, Hicks shine; Fish win ‘Cellar Series’ vs. Mets: The Marlins are 24-29 with a second straight home win over the rival New York Mets: Saturday’s 4-1 victory on Max Meyer’s mound gem (he’s now 5-0) and Liam Hicks’ two home runs. Hicks, a catcher/DH, SS Otto Lopez, 2B Xavier Edwards and starters Meyer and Sandy Alcantara are having plus-seasons, and Eury Perez (finally) pitched up to potential. Still, two straight over the Mets only means Miami escapes the NL East cellar for now.
7. CANES BASEBALL: Miami falls in ACC semifinal, awaits NCAA Regional bid: Unranked Miami (38-18) lost 9-3 Saturday in Charlotte to No. 3 Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament semifinals, falling one win shy of today’s conference title game. The strong showing by coach J.D. Arteaga’s team all but assures UM will make the 64-team NCAA Regional field, location to be determined. The selection show is Monday and the 16 regionals are May 29-June 1, with some projecting UM will be headed to Athens, Ga. Miami must win its regional to advance to a Super Regional and a chance to reach the College World Series.
8. SOCCER: Barcelona wins women’s Champions League; PSG fave in men’s final: Barcelona won its fourth UEFA Women’s Champions League crown just since 2021 with Saturday’s 3-0 victory over France’s Lyonnes in Oslo, Norway. On the men’s side, Paris Saint-Germain is a -145 betting favorite (per DraftKings) to win a second straight Champs League crown next Saturday vs. Arsenal (+120) in Budapest, Hungary. PSG would be first back-to-back club king since Real Madrid won three straight in 2016-18. Arsenal, on the wing of its first English Premier League crown in 22 years, is in its first final since 2006 and seeking its first title.
9. TENNIS: French Open gets underway amid major grousing by players: Top men’s and women’s players issued a statement conveying extreme disappointment over the French Open’s revenue share of 14.3 percent, well under the typical 22 percent for most ATP and WTA events. A boycott was discussed but not carried out as the premier clay-court test begins today/Sunday in Paris. Carlos Alcaraz (out injured) and American Coco Gauff are reigning champs; Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are No. 1 seeds; and Sinner and Iga Swiatek are betting faves.
10. HIGH SCHOOLS: Florida signs ‘Bridgewater Act’ into law: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Teddy Bridgewater Act that will allow state’s high school coaches to use their own money to help their players with expenses like food, transportation and physical therapy. The law is named for the veteran NFL quarterback who coached his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High, to a state title in 2024 but was suspended for the ‘25 season after revealing he personally paid for meals, ride-share services and treatments for some players. One concern (mine, not the state’s): Needs strict monitoring so coaches don’t skirt beyond the law.
THE LIST: DRIVERS WHO’VE DONE INDY 500/COCA-COLA 600 ‘DOUBLE DUTY’: Today/Sunday, Katherine Legge will attempt to be only the sixth driver to successfully compete in both the IndyCar Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day. The only five to have done it:
Driver (Years)
John Andretti (1994)
Robby Gordon (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Tony Stewart (1999, 2001)
Kurt Busch (2014)
Kyle Larson (2025)
Note: Stewart has been only driver to finish in top-10 in both races on same day: 9th-Indy / 4th-Coke in 1999 and 6th-Indy / 3rd-Coke in 2001.
Other select most recent stuff from me: Dolphins will be better than you think in ‘26. Here’s why // Poll Dance: On Aaron Rodgers // Perfect? No. But Messi is godsend who has exceeded all hopes // Podcast: New ‘Greg Doesn’t Know Movies’ // Previous HB10 // Florida’s escalated fight with NFL mirrors larger war on DEI // One month out, tickets are pricey. No duh. Savor World Cup anyway // Stephen Ross takes last big swing to rescue legacy as Dolphins owner // Should America be rooting for Knicks and Sabres in NBA, NHL playoffs? // Why ‘26 is very good year for Dolphins to be really bad // Heat’s Pat Riley still fighting for career finish Shula never got // Dolphins’ new GM earns trust on Proctor, draft. But he better be right // Cote’s 35th annual Mock Draft // Power of Lionel Messi shows in Inter Miami’s latest coaching change // Heat end season valiantly, but effort and almost are not enough // No Tiger, no Phil at Masters and why it’s so hard in sports to let go // State of Miami Sports; Grading Fins, Heat, Cats, Fish, Inter Miami & more // U.S. team struggles, doubts grow as men’s World Cup nears // Sandy shines, Marlins win to launch latest season of budget-ball // Baseball, politics, emotion lift Venezuela past U.S. to WBC championship // Dolphins got good haul, but blame Curse of Tua for trading Waddle at all // 46 years later and on top of world, USA hockey owns Canada’s sport // Dolphins’ major rebuild is on -- and it’s about damned time // No Giannis (yet), but for Heat it’s a dream deferred, not dead // 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 // Step aside, other cities: Why 2026 in sports belongs to Miami // And my latest podcast:
