From Tua Tagovailoa to Tyler Herro, we’ve picked the perfect sayings for each athlete. Join us in letting our favorite Miami sports stars know what they mean to us through sugary treats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is surely soon to ban.
Thinking of U, Tua ♥️
New Times photo-illustration (Tua Tagovailoa photo by Norm Hall/Getty; beach photo via public domain/Flickr)
MISS U: Tua Tagovailoa
Miss Tua? We're obsessed with thinking about him being gone, even when he's with us. Every four-yard run toward the sideline clenches our butt cheeks because he's that important to the Miami Dolphins' on-field product (not to mention our overall mental health).No player in Miami sports is missed more than Tua Tagovailoa when he isn't on the field — which, by our unofficial calculations, is damn near always. If the NFL gave its Most Valuable Player award to the athlete who was most valuable to his team and not the best player on one of the league's best teams, Tua would be accepting the trophy every year.
LUV U: Lionel Messi
We will say and do whatever is necessary to convince you to stay. We love you, Messi. Ronaldo sucks! Please, tell us how to prevent another Jimmy Butler situation or avoid the chaos Tyreek Hill is about to unleash.If you want to return to Europe to score goals for a multi-billion dollar club or play closer to Argentina, so be it. Just leave us peacefully and skip the messy break-up, please? We'll love you forever for that.
HUG ME: Udonis Haslem
Oh, Udonis, how we miss the safety and security of knowing you're around the Miami Heat team, keeping Heat culture in order.We're old enough to remember when Heat fans would go on social media and mock the team for daring to pay you what amounts to an accounting error for Micky Arison to hold down the fort. Those same haters have been suspiciously quiet since you retired and all hell broke loose.
Coincidence? We know not. Hug us, UD. And by "hug us, " we mean please just come out of retirement and babysit these children.
BFF: Kevin Love
Through the chaos of the Jimmy Butler saga, Kevin Love’s Instagram stories were always there, like a soft piano playing Dionne Warwick's iconic song "That's What Friends Are For" in the background, reminding us to "keep smilin,’ keep shinin’." He delivered when we needed him most, proving again that you can always count on him. For sure.In good times and bad times, he was on our side forevermore — because that’s what friends are for.
Jaylen Waddle knows how to bust a move.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
UR CUTE: Jaylen Waddle
There may be a day when Jaylen Waddle isn't just the cutest, non-dramatic player in Miami sports, but today is not that day. He is quite literally the anti-Tyreek Hill, which was ever-apparent as he asked Hill if he was "done" in the season finale loss to the New York Jets.Waddle doing a penguin walk after every touchdown will always be good, clean fun. If the Dolphins are down 40, we still want to see it, if only because every Fins fan age ten and under waits all game for it.
Steady as he goes: Erik Spoelstra
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
TRU LUV: Erik Spoelstra
True love isn't what might initially come to mind. But true love can mean hard times, man. It's the good, the bad, and the ugly. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has seen multiple cycles of each of those things and somehow, some way, has managed to hold his head up without a full-fledged public breakdown.Coach Spo is true love. We may sometimes hate him (stop playing Terry Rozier!), but most of the time, we love Spoelstra and couldn't imagine life without him.
Tyler Herro, Heat hunk
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
BE MINE: Tyler Herro
For all "Boy Wonder" has been through, watching Tyler Herro have the season of his life while the Miami Heat stands in ninth place in the Eastern Conference is enough for us to want to hug and kiss him. This season, Herro became a first-time NBA All-Star and seems a veteran team leader both on and off the court.Hugs and kisses for the boy we watched flourish into a grown-ass man.
