Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: U.S. surge in World Cup, Giannis/Heat, hot Marlins, more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JUNE 21): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: U.S. storms into round-of-32 in World Cup, decision time for Giannis and Heat, hot Marlins host Tartan Army, U.S. Open is Wyndham’s to lose, Le Batard Show drops Stugotz from name and more. Welcome to 154th edition of HB10, bringing you what’s on our minds through a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. SOCCER: “Let’s gooooo States!” U.S. clinches World Cup advance; Miami hosts Brazil-Scotland: After a 4-1 opener over Paraguay, America’s 2-0 Friday win over Australia in Seattle clinched an advance in the World Cup and first place in Group D. U.S. was second team to clinch a group crown, hours after Mexico clinched Group A. The U.S. winning second leg of the three-match group stage came with top player Christian Pulisic idled by a sore calf. He may sit again with the next match meaningless. Team USA in the round-of-32 knockout stage will face the third place team in any of five groups, with some projecting Bosnia as most likely foe. Our matches of the day for the week ahead: Today/Sunday--Uruguay vs. Cape Verde in second game in Miami; Monday--Messi and Argentina vs. Austria; Tuesday--England-Ghana; Wednesday--Brazil-Scotland in third Miami match; Thursday--U.S.-Turkiye in L.A.; Friday--France-Norway (a.k.a. Mbappe vs. Haaland); and next Saturday--Colombia-Portugal.
▪ The Greg Cote Show podcast has a live World Cup contest among myself, Chris and Yeti with results based upon teams each of us drafted. Go here to track continuous live updates: cotecup.thegregcoteshow.com
2. HEAT: Nail-bitin’ time as Miami awaits Giannis decision, Draft: The Miami Heat/Giannis Antetokounmpo drama that has dragged on simmering for months seems finally about to reach a full boil: A decision. Milwaukee will trade him -- to Miami or Boston or elsewhere -- or keep him another season, a choice the Bucks say they want to make by Tuesday’s start of the NBA Draft. Miami has the 13th overall pick with a mock consensus projecting Heat take a big such as Morez Johnson, Hannes Steinbach, Yaxel Lendeborg or Karim Lopez. Or, if they go small, eyes on Labaron Philon or Christian Anderson. Whether that’s a selection Miami will keep or package in the trade that gets Giannis, we’ll soon know ... finally.
3. MARLINS: Hot Fish top .500 ... and here comes the Tartan Army!: The hot Marlins are 39-38 after a seventh straight home win on Saturday in midst of six-game homestand as Max Meyer handled Giants to improve to 8-0. It’s Miami’s first time over .500 since 9-8. Fish wrap their series with San Fran today/Sunday then host Texas for three. There will be World Cup flavor Monday night as Scotland fans’ “Tartan Army,” in Miami For Wednesday’s Brazil-Scotland game, invade Marlins Park, assuring a rare big crowd at a Fish game.
4. GOLF: U.S. Open is Wyndham Clark’s to (blow) lose: The U.S. Open is his to lose for the man with the name of a 19th Century English butler, Wyndham Clark. The 126th golf major in Shinnecock Hills, N.Y. finds Clark a dominant -7 to par -- six strokes better than a bunch at 1-under including world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler entering today’s final round. Clark is aiming for his second career major win; he won the U.S. Open in 2023. He’ll win this one ... or sink into the cellar of greatest chokes ever.
5. MEDIA: Le Batard Show finally drops Stugotz from name: It had continued as the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz even though Jon (Stugotz) Weiner departed to start his own podcast and has not appeared with Le Batard for more than a year. No more. Beginning Monday the Miami-based show will rebrand simply as the Dan Le Batard Show. An era ends. So does an epic partnership. Dan says Stu is always welcome back, but there are doubts the feeling is reciprocal.
6. CELEBRATING: New York goes big as Knicks, Carolina cheer champs: An estimated 2 million fans flooded Lower Manhattan for the New York Knicks championship parade, a ticker-tape procession along the “Canyon of Heroes” to celebrate the Knicks’ third NBA crown but first since 1973. A few days later, on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C., an estimated 150,000 Carolina Hurricanes’ fans celebrated that club’s second NHL title and first since 2006. Also celebrating: The leagues and networks for the highest-rated NBA Finals since 1998 and most-watched Stanley Cup Final since 2019.
7. TENNIS: Good old days? Serena, Venus set to play at Wimbledon: The Williams sisters are back (sort of)! Wimbledon has confirmed Serena, 44, and Venus, 46, have accepted a wild-card entry as a doubles team in the tennis major starting June 29 in London. More intriguing, Wimbledon is holding open one wild-card singles entry -- presumably, probably, but unofficially for G.O.A.T. Serena, who has not said if her return to tennis after a four-year absence might escalate to singles. Along with Serena’s 23 major singles titles and Venus’ seven, the sisters have combined to win 14 major doubles titles, six at Wimbledon, the last in 2016.
8. COLLEGE BASEBALL: Oklahoma wins opener of World Series best-of-3: Texas won a second straight Women’s College World Series title, now it’s the guys’ turn. Oklahoma won 9-3 over North Carolina in their best-of-3 title men’s CWS series in Omaha on Saturday. Sooners can clinch today/Sunday or send it to a rubber game Monday. Two-time champ Oklahoma is after its first national crown since 1994. North Carolina seeks to rally for its first diamond championship.
9. MONEY: Ronaldo tops Forbes’ richest-athletes list for ‘26: Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo’s past-year earnings of $300 million (still ridin’ that Saudi blood money) leads Forbes’ Top 50 richest athletes of 2026. Rounding out the top five: Boxer Canelo Alvarez ($170M), Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (($140M), LeBron James ($137.8M) and Shohei Ohtani ($127.6). Others of note include Giannis Antetokounmpo (11th at $99.2M) and former Heat star Jimmy Butler (27th at $68.2M).
10. NFL: Hall of Fame honors Miami teacher: Miami-Dade’s Pinecrest Elementary School third grade teacher Mary Crippen, who integrates the NFL into her curriculum, is the initial Pro Football Hall of Fame “Awards of Character” recipient. The award was launched to honor “everyday Hall of Famers,” and Crippen learned she’d won with a surprise visit to her classroom modeled after the Hall’s surprise “knock on the door” tradition. Hall Class of 1998 inductee, Dolphins great Dwight Stephenson, did the knocking.
THE LIST: NBA Draft top-five picks: The predicted top five picks in the June 23 first round of NBA Draft, per DraftKings betting odds:
Pick Player, Pos., School
1 AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU
2 Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas
3 Cameron Boozer, F, Duke
4 Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
5 Mikel Brown Jr., G, Louisville
Note: Dybantsa is a strong favorite to go No. 1 at -450 odds.
Other select most recent stuff from me: It’s the end of era as Le Batard Show drops Stugotz from name // Poll Dance: Will Heat land Giannis? // Despite noise on Boston, Miami Heat will win Giannis sweepstakes // Historic night for Miami, World Cup as Saudis and Uruguay tie 1-1 // Podcast: World Cup, new song, Catchphrase Countdown // Previous HB10 // Ugly buildup to World Cup, but now the beautiful game and the magic take over // Trump intrudes on NBA Finals, New York’s epic night // World Cup is upon us and here are top 6 storylines // Serena, Jen Pawol and continuing fight for women’s equality in sports // As we lose ‘72 Perfect Season Dolphins 1 by 1, time to cherish Miami’s family heirloom // Heat needs Giannis to reverse slide to irrelevance // Dolphins will be better than you think in ‘26. Here’s why // Perfect? No. But Messi is godsend who has exceeded all hopes // 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 // 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 // Heat end season valiantly, but effort and almost are not enough // State of Miami Sports; Grading Fins, Heat, Cats, Fish, Inter Miami & more // Sandy shines, Marlins win to launch latest season of budget-ball // Baseball, politics, emotion lift Venezuela past U.S. to WBC championship // Dolphins’ major rebuild is on -- and it’s about damned time // 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 // And my latest podcast:
