Greg Cote: Masters, Heat, Cats, Beckham wedding mess, gruesome twosome, more in new Hot Button Top 10

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 9): 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. Back after a week’s hiatus while in Houston for the Final Four, welcome to the 11th edition of the new HB10:

1. HEAT/NBA: Play-in tourney, Udonis Haslem farewell make it big week for Miami: Sunday marks the last regular-season game of Udonis Haslem’s historic 20-year career with the Heat. But it won’t be his last curtain call at home. Miami is in the play-in tournament as the East’s No. 7 seed and will host No. 8 Atlanta Tuesday night. Winner is in main playoffs as 7th seed. Loser plays Friday in must-win vs. Toronto-Chicago loser, with winner making main playoffs as 8th seed. Miami, if it survives the play-in, would face rival Boston or Milwaukee in the main playoffs.

2. PANTHERS/NHL: Cats clawing for playoffs, in wild wild-card chase: The Florida Panthers scored as huge 4-2 win at Washington Saturday night, but wild-card rivals the Islanders and Penguins also both won. Cats have 91 points, NYI 91 and Pittsburgh 90, each with two games left. Two will earn wild-card playoff spots; one will go home. Florida has won six in a row with Alex Lyon the hot mitt in goal.

3. GOLF: Turncoat Brooks Koepka carries 4-shot Masters lead into Sunday: The Masters’ leader Koepka is among the PGA Tour traitors who sold souls to chase Saudi money on the LIV tour. Nonethless he’s headed for a green jacket barring a collapse as the event completes its rain-delayed third round Sunday morning before hopefully finishing before dark. Tiger Woods got some luck to barely make the cut but is dead-last in the 54-man field entering Sunday.

4. UFC/WWE: Merger makes it a ‘gruesome twosome,’ indeed: The flagship enterprises of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling merged to form a $21.4 billion sports-entertainment giant, with UFC valued at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3B. Endeavor Group owned UFC and absorbed WWE and will take a 51 percent controlling interest. “Gruesome Twosome” is one of the trademarks applied for, which makes ironic sense for the marriage of a barbarically violent sport and scripted clown show. What synergy there might be -- ropes in the octagon? -- is TBD.

5. NCAA TOURNAMENT: Madness takeaway? Rise of the women’s game!: Record-low TV numbers for the UConn-San Diego State men’s final; record-high ratings for the LSU-Iowa women’s final. Could be an anomaly. Men’s Final Four was low-watt (sorry, Miami and FAU), with a yawnish 4 vs. 5 finale for the guys, while women’s FF was top-tier, with Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark to end it. But I rather think the women’s game has closed the gap for good as it finally dawns on America: Viewership and fandom are based largely on habit. Give the women in most any sport a fair chance, and watch out.

6. TENNIS: Miami Open men’s final crushed by ... Pickleball Slam!: The recent inaugural Pickleball Slam at the Hollywood Hard Rock drew an average of 676, 000 viewers to ESPN to watch Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick beat John McEnroe and Michael Chang. At the same time a few miles south, Daniil Medvedev’s ATP men’s final win at the Miami Open drew 244K on the Tennis Channel. Does it signal the takeover of upstart pickleball in the battle of racket sports? It’s more likely we’d rather get nostalgic with Agassi and McEnroe than watch Medvedev play somebody named Jannik Sinner.

7. DOLPHINS: Do you believe Tyreek Hill? Should we?: Miami’s receiving star told a Kansas City radio station he plans to retire after the 2025 season when his Dolphins contract ends. Do we buy that a top-tier wideout in his prime will retire (for what?) and forsake what likely would be his last mega-contract of his career? Is it more likely he’s angling for a contract extension? Is he just bored and loves him some attention? Anything’s possible. Best bet: Cheetah ain’t retiring at 31.

8. SOCCER: The Lionel Messi saga goes round and round (...and round): Trend-O-Meter sez: Current team Paris Saint-Germain losing its grip on a re-sign fast. Ex-club Barcelona re-enters the pic -- but how can that financial mess accommodate a grand return? MLS and Inter Miami wait faithfully at the altar, with little leverage for impatience or an ultimatum. Now here comes Saudi Arabia money, the same big, dirty cash that lured Ronaldo. Soap opera continues. Stay tuned.

9. COURTS: One year later, Beckham-Peltz wedding has the lawyers busy: You know David Beckham. His Inter Miami team is off to a sluggish 2-4 start in MLS. Remember one year ago when son Brooklyn Beckham married socialite Nicola Peltz before 500 guests at her dad’s oceanfront estate in Palm Beach? Well, it’s been all lawyers since. Oh, the marriage is fine, as far as we know. But Nicola and her mother are named as third party defendants in a lawsuit involving Nicola’s father and the Miami-based former wedding planners. It’s a legal morass and too much a bog for HB10. So more here via People.com.

10. SOCCER: Unfortunate pairing in quarterfinals as Champions League continues: The UEFA Champions League, arguably the second biggest men’s soccer tournament after the World Cup, plays first-leg quarterfinal matches this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Manchester City faces Bayern Munich in an unfortunate draw between the co-favorites to win it all. Other quarters: Defending champ Real Madrid vs. Chelsea, Benfica vs. Internazionale and AC Milan vs. Napoli.

Other most recent stuff from me: A fond tribute to Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem as his 20-year reign nears end / Taunting, a warning & rise of women’s game: Reflections on Final Fours / Final Four losses can’t erase magic of Miami, FAU seasons / Is Miami, FAU in Final Four Miami’s biggest sports surprise ever? / Marlins lose opener, and empty seats a message to owner / John McEnroe promoting pickleball but doesn’t much care for the game / And my latest podcast: