Greg Cote: Messi a Miami miracle; Heat, Panthers need one; PGA Tour’s shame top new Hot Button Top 10

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JUNE 11): 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. Welcome to the 20th edition of the new HB10:

1. INTER MIAMI: Lionel Messi coming to Miami the motherlode for team and for MLS: His coming to Miami has been announced by Messi himself and agreed upon in principle but is not yet a signed contract, so worriers who think it’s too good to be true may yet be right. But barring anything unforeseen, Major League Soccer has its biggest star ever and Inter Miami’s following has just exploded. Small indication: Within 24 hours of the news breaking, Inter Miami added more than 4 million additional followers on Instagram.

2. HEAT: Miami need NBA Finals miracle to avoid possible big offseason change: Down 3-1 to Denver entering Monday’s Game 5 in the Mile (Legally) High City gives Miami a less than 5 percent shot to win three straight and the title, says NBA history. They could do it. But assuming they don’t, expect a change-needed narrative centered around “They need a third star with Butler and Adabeyo” (wholly ignoring the postseason injury absence of 20-point scorer Tyler Herro). If you have Damian Lillard in your offseason-speculation drinking game, you might already be drunk. Joel Embiid could be a fun rumor, too.

3. PANTHERS: Florida needs a miracle, too, in Stanley Cup Final: Thirty-seven times in NHL history a team as been down 3-1 in the Final, and 36 times they have watched the other team raise the Cup. Lone exception: Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 -- 81 years ago. That is the Panthers’ mountain to climb, starting with Tuesday’s Game 5 in Vegas. Unlike the Heat likely falling short, Florida settling for second likely would not see significant offseason changes.

4. GOLF: Shamed, shameless PGA Tour sells its soul to Saudis: The PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan blindsided their players by suddenly climbing into financial bed with LIV Golf, the tour’s mortal enemy until the minute a merger was announced. The Wall Street Journal reported Monahan told employees the Tour could not continue fighting legal battles. “We cannot compete with a foreign government with unlimited money,” he reportedly said. “We waited to be in the strongest possible position to get this deal in place.” The deal is an affront; a cave-in to Saudi blood money and sportwashing. But Monahan made it worse by his gross mishandling of it.

5. TENNIS: Djokovic gets Slam record in French finals; Iga wins again: No. 3 men’s seed Novak Djokovic chased and rewrote history in Sunday’s men’s final of the French Open, shaking off a slow start vs. Casper Ruud and bagging his 23rd major Grand Slam win to break a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most ever. No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek rolled to her third French women’s title a day earlier in Paris.

6. HORSE RACING: Arcangelo wins Belmont Stakes; trainer makes his history: Arcangelo at 7-1 with Javier Castellano aboard won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, surpassing Preakness winner National Treasure then staving off the late charge of betting pick Forte. Arcangelo trainer Jena Antonucci became the first female trainer to win the Belmont. The last Triple Crown race almost didn’t happen due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that has caused postponements in MLB, the WNBA and elsewhere.

7. MARLINS: Miami has a guy hitting .400. Let’s keep it to ourselves: Luis Arraez of the Marlins took a .402 batting average into Sunday, 66 points higher than anybody else in MLB. He is trying to become the game’s first.400 hitter since the 1940s for a Fish team, exceeding expectations and in the playoff chase. Unfortunately the Marlins picked a really bad time to be really good. The Heat and Panthers’ finals runs, and Messi coming to Inter Miami’s have overwhelmingly left the team begging for attention in its own city.

8. BIGOTRY: Blue Jays pitcher latest to display his bigotry, then say oops: Toronto pitcher Anthony Bass said he does not believe an anti-LGBTQ social media post he shared last month was hateful, though he said he is ”working hard” to educate himself, and will catch a ceremonial first pitch from a Toronto LGBTQ-rights activist. Bass shared an Instagram post advocating boycotts of Target and Bud Light over their support of inclusion. Pride Month is bringing out the hatred, but it also is opening avenues toward opening eyes and fomenting understanding and acceptance. Remember “live and let live”?

9. DOLPHINS: Chris Simms picks really bad time to be really petty: A Dolphins superfan from California, Eric Carmona, had a popular We Are TuAnon Twitter site to support Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa. Sadly, Carmona, a Navy veteran, died at 30 in a motorcycle accident June 1, leaving behind a wife and four kids. Donations to a GoFundMe page for the family have included $10,000 from Tua -- from tragedy, a sweet story of support from Carmona’s favorite team, right? Not to Chris Simms! See, Carmona also was a frequent critic of Simms. So the NFL analyst and former QB, on Pro Football Talk Live with Mike Florio, said, “He obviously was a huge Tua fan. Also a guy that trolled me a lot on Twitter. We’re setting an example of, ‘Hey, here’s money to a guy who was very negative, too.’” Cringe. Dolfans are outraged with cause. Tone-deaf Chris picked a really bad time to be really petty. Postcript: Chris Simms (or someone using the name) donated $1,000 to the family.

10. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: ‘Baby Gronk’ should not be celebrated. It’s sad: A 10-year-old California boy named Madden San Miguel (nickname Baby Gronk) is a social media wonder-kid because he has been groomed by his father since age 6 to be a next-big-thing in college football recruiting, with daily workouts, special diets and so forth. Media including had The Athletic have passed along the wonderful story, except it isn’t. The boy’s childhood has been hijacked. For a cautionary tale that applies, Google “Todd Marinovich.”

Other most recent stuff from me: Panthers lose at home, join Heat in 3-1 finals hole as championship hopes fade / Home is where the hurt is: Heat face Finals elimination after Game 4 home loss / Tkachuk, Verhaeghe just saved Stanley Cup title hopes for Panthers / Messi to Miami the exclamation on seismic time in South Florida sports / Jokic lifts Denver to 2-1 NBA Finals lead over Miami / Panthers need miracle after blowout loss, 2-0 Stanley Cup hole / ‘Undrafted’ a dirty word, but those guys just pulled Heat even in NBA Finals / Previous HB10 from last Sunday / And my latest podcasts: