AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
South Florida is the center of the American professional sports world right now with the Miami Heat making the NBA Finals and the Florida Panthers earning a Stanley Cup Final trip.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is clearly aware of the teams’ respective successes.
“How cool is that for South Florida sports just in general, just riding the 2023 but specifically the Heat and the Panthers doing a lot of things that people said they couldn’t do,” McDaniel said recently, per Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “Which I very much appreciate. We are definitely taking note.”
McDaniel is all in on both runs and notably got the Panthers faithful fired up prior to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Florida Panthers @FlaPanthers
Coach McDaniel in the house ‼️#TimeToHunt x #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/ZH0kTxcgTg
He also got the crowd going before Game 3 of the Heat’s Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics:
Josh Moser @TheMozKnowz
#Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel firing up the Heat crowd at center court ahead of tonight’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. LOVE THIS! #heatculture #finsup #nba pic.twitter.com/B1Sz3FRxlh
It’s a great time to be a South Florida sports fan. The Miami Marlins have also done well so far, going 28-26, good enough for second in the National League East. The Dolphins just made the playoffs last year and nearly picked off the AFC East-winning Buffalo Bills despite playing without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and second-stringer Teddy Bridgewater.
The Heat and Panthers are centerstage right now, though, after getting to the championship round despite being the final playoff seeds in their respective fields. As for McDaniel, he can certainly hope for a championship run of his own as Miami looks to improve upon a promising season.
