52 June 27-July 3, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times b e s T o f m i a m i ® 2 0 2 4 BEST SPORTING EVENT The Miami Open miamiopen.com Whereas we may never know whether the Dol- phins will be remotely good year to year, we do know this: The tennis action inside Hard Rock Stadium for the annual Miami Open is always top-tier. Since moving from Crandon Park to Hard Rock Stadium in 2019, everything about the Open has been ace. Beyond professional tennis’ four grand slam tournaments, it’s re- garded as the next best tournament on planet Earth. And, for many reasons, people love play- ing inside a football stadium-gone-tennis court. All of the top players in the world attend (ex- cept Novak Djokovic, who keeps bailing for whatever reason), and, well, it’s a total vibe. Even if you aren’t a tennis fan, you can relish slices of Editor Pizza and booze on a balcony overlooking the grounds. BEST COACH Mike McDaniel Miami Dolphins miamidolphins.com Winning an award for Best Coach in any sports town would be an accomplishment, but receiv- ing that accolade with Miami Heat coach and future Hall of Famer Erik Spoelstra employed just down the road adds an extra shine to the achievement. Miami Dolphins coach Mike Mc- Daniel is this year’s pick for the category, thanks to his work in turning the Dolphins of- fense into a national story through high-speed innovation and creativity that has his counter- parts scratching their heads. Between his reju- venation of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s confidence and, in essence, career, and utiliza- tion of Miami’s playmakers to the best of their abilities on the way to 11 wins and a second- straight playoff appearance, McDaniel has taken a dormant franchise accustomed to dis- appointments to a team with Super Bowl or bust expectations for the first time in a quarter- century. Making the Miami Dolphins relevant again? Yeah, that’s worthy stuff for the Best Coach of the Year. BEST FLORIDA PANTHERS PLAYER Matthew Tkachuk instagram.com/matthew_tkachuk As this issue goes to press, the Florida Panthers are on the verge of winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, thanks in large part to forward Matthew Tkachuk. After arriving in Florida through a trade with the Calgary Flames in 2022, Tkachuk wasted no time making his mark. He scored 40 goals in his first season with the Panthers and led the team on a Cinderella run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Along the way, Tkachuk whipped in three game-winning goals in the NHL Eastern Conference Finals in a playoff performance that will go down in fran- chise lore. Tkachuk brings the kind of dedica- tion and sense of camaraderie that makes championship teams. His scoring prowess is undeniable, but he’s an unselfish player — as keen to provide a breakaway assist as he is to slap in a goal himself. BEST INTER MIAMI CF PLAYER Lionel Messi instagram.com/leomessi Imagine not giving Lionel Messi the Best Inter Miami CF Player title — it could not be us. Lio- nel Messi is more than a goal-scorer, but his fast start in his debut with Inter, consisting of 11 goals in his first 11 games with the club, con- firmed what was already widely accepted: No- body has ever put the ball in the back of the net more consistently than the Argentine GOAT himself. Messi’s presence with Inter has made the club successful on the field — including last season’s League Cup victory — and off the pitch and worldwide, as evidenced by Inter having more social media followers than any sports team. Messi’s playing in Miami would be akin to Taylor Swift deciding to have a residency in South Florida. The impact is immeasurable. Not only is Messi the Inter Miami CF Player of 2024, but likely the Best Miami Person of 2024. What happens on the pitch this season is al- most second in importance to the attention and entertainment he brings South Florida. BEST MIAMI DOLPHINS PLAYER Jalen Ramsey instagram.com/jalenramsey Impactful. That’s the best word to describe Jalen Ramsey’s absence during the first half of the sea- son due to a knee injury and his season-shifting return in December. An All-Pro his entire career, it was well-known and expected that Ramsey would be a dominant force in the Dolphins’ sec- ondary. Still, it wasn’t until his belated arrival in the regular season after recovering from a knee injury that Dolphins fans could truly understand what the former Florida State Seminole brings. A glance at the stat sheet may show just three in- terceptions and five pass defenses last season, but the truth is in the details. They tell the story of a cornerback who deleted an entire side of the field for opposing quarterbacks, forcing them to take advantage of a hobbled and on-the-decline Xavien Howard, who has since left the team. Ramsey already looks 500 percent this offseason — challenging football campers to one-on-one battles galore — so expect to see an even better version of Jalen in 2024. BEST MIAMI HEAT PLAYER Jimmy Butler instagram.com/jimmybutler Jimmy Butler is the most complicated, uncom- plicated man in the world. While his interests off the court — including everything from start- ing his own coffee company to guest starring in Fall Out Boy music videos — seem endless, when it comes time to lace up his sneakers, it’s all basketball business between the lines. And when the court between those lines has an NBA Playoffs logo painted in it, his “Playoff Jimmy” ass-kicking alter-ego kicks in and takes center stage. In 2023, Playoff Jimmy led the Miami Heat to the franchise’s second NBA Finals ap- pearance in four seasons. While his season had a slow start, it ended predictably; he was one of the last players with a game on the schedule and, in most cases, the best player on the court. What Butler brings to the Heat not only can’t be replaced but can’t be replicated. His tenacity and out-of-body experiences with the game on the line make him one of the best players on the current team and in franchise history. BEST MIAMI MARLINS PLAYER Luis Arraez instagram.com/arraezluis True, he’s no longer a Marlin, but months after the team traded him for prospects, second baseman Luis Arraez remains the Marlins’ best player. In a day and age when baseball analytics have taken over and a new statistic is born seemingly every day, batting average is no lon- ger in vogue. While batting average may be go- ing the way of the blue-footed booby, that straightforward data point says a lot about Luis Arraez. For by that measure, he is the LeBron James of baseball. In his first —and, as it turned out, only — season with the Marlins, all Arraez did was threaten to break the storied .400 threshold in batting average, a feat accom- plished only 42 times in Major League Baseball history (the last time was 1948, when Artie Wil- son of the Birmingham Black Barons did it). Ar- raez tailed off as the Marlins’ 2023 season wore on, but he still finished at .354 — best in MLB. Now he’s playing for the San Diego Padres. Such is the unfortunate lot of the Marlins fan. BEST TEAM OWNER David Beckham Inter Miami CF Intermiamicf.com instagram.com/davidbeckham David Beckham brought the best player in the world to Inter Miami in 2023, which, in turn, makes him the Best Team Owner in Miami. It’s not all that complicated. The addition of Lionel Messi and a slew of his favorite soccer-playing friends took Inter Miami from a sleepy team playing off Commercial Boulevard in Broward County to an iconic franchise with more fol- lowers on social media than any team in all of sports. Not bad! Beckham has climbed to the top of Miami sports owners through more than just his impressive good looks, pedigree, and reputation. He worked tirelessly behind closed doors to convince Messi to join Inter, a monu- mental move that’s done just as much for soccer in Miami as Pat Riley bringing LeBron James to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did for basketball. They say you need to bet big to win big, and Beckham did just that. Banking on his relationship with Messi paid off, and then some. BEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER Johnell Davis Florida Atlantic University fausports.com instagram.com/kobnelly Johnell Davis has entered the transfer portal, meaning he will not be an FAU Owls basketball team member in 2024-25. Luckily for him, this is an award for past performances, which he has delivered at Boca Raton in spades. Davis — regarded by many as the greatest player in FAU history — helped the school achieve its best sea- son in program history in 2023, with Confer- ence USA regular season and tournament titles. He was named first-team All-C-USA and C- USA Sixth Player of the Year, and, oh yeah, the Owls made it to the NCAA Final Four, by far their greatest season of all time. Davis followed up his fantastic 2023 play with another solid season for the Owls in 2024, and now he’s on to either the NBA or another school where his tal- ents will be on full display, likely on a national stage. His time in Boca will be forever remem- bered, regardless of his next stop. And he’ll go down as one of the greatest college basketball players in South Florida history. BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER Andres Borregales University of Miami miamihurricanes.com instagram.com/nolimit.andy For the third consecutive year, University of Mi- ami’s primary kicker, Andres Borregales, once
