The Florida Panthers have been looking fierce and clawing their way deep into the playoffs, 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 franchise lore. Tkachuk brings the kind of dedication 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.

Imagine not giving Lionel Messi the Best Inter Miami CF Player title — it could not be us. Lionel 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, confirmed what was already widely accepted: Nobody 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 almost second in importance to the attention and entertainment he brings South Florida.

Impactful. That's the best word to describe Jalen Ramsey's absence during the first half of the season 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' secondary. 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 interceptions 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.

Jimmy Butler is the most complicated, uncomplicated man in the world. While his interests off the court — including everything from starting 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 appearance 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.

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 longer in vogue. While batting average may be going 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 accomplished only 42 times in Major League Baseball history (the last time was 1948, when Artie Wilson of the Birmingham Black Barons did it). Arraez 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.

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 followers 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 monumental 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.

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 season in program history in 2023, with Conference 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 talents will be on full display, likely on a national stage. His time in Boca will be forever remembered, regardless of his next stop. And he'll go down as one of the greatest college basketball players in South Florida history.

For the third consecutive year, University of Miami's primary kicker, Andres Borregales, once again put on a kicking clinic, earning 2023 First-Team All-ACC honors and becoming a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award to recognize the top kicker in the nation. In the regular season, he nailed 21 of 25 field goal attempts and successfully converted 41 of 42 extra point attempts across 12 games. Borregales was reliable when the rest of the Hurricanes squad was anything but, and he was a lead-pipe lock to put the pigskin between the uprights when the team needed him most. When a kicker puts on the sort of reliable display Borregales has over his career, you have to find ways to reward him. In this case, New Times is pitching in by awarding him the title Best College Football Player of 2024.

To say the man, the myth, the absolute South Florida AM sports radio legend, Brendan Tobin, continues to outwork the competition would be an understatement. He's going above and beyond to ensure he laps all comers. Between his midday show airing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on WQAM 560 with co-host and former star NFL running back LeRoy Hoard to his widely popular late-night YouTube video streams, Brendan is burning the candle at both ends while also finding time in the middle to be knowledgeable on all things boxing and martial arts. With a career in local radio spanning more than a decade, Tobin has cemented himself as a local legend and a voice fans hope to hear for many more decades. From pulsed whale calls when the Miami Heat were rumored to be after a star player to his hilarious Marlins Macho Man character, you never know what you'll get next from Brendan. That makes him all that much more notable, thriving in an industry that is increasingly up against the drive of a new digital world.

The voice of Florida Atlantic University sports, Ken LaVicka, is more than just a sportscaster — he's a fixture in the homes of those who root for the Owls. LaVicka was a must-follow during the Owls' incredible run to the NCAA Final Four during March Madness in 2023, offering a fly-on-the-wall view of all things FAU that included everything from the team boarding the bus to his preparations for the big games in storied arenas such as New York's Madison Square Garden. In the fall, LaVicka routinely begins the morning of an Owls' game by offering social media followers a sunrise view of the stadium where he will call games just a few hours later. His connection to the fanbase on social media is just one example of how the voice of a local team can do more than just explain to the fans what they're seeing, making the game more enjoyable. LaVicka brings to FAU precisely what the team needs: a recognizable voice and, at times, a cheerleader in a sports scene cluttered with many options. Those extra points — in addition to his spectacular vocal chops — make him the finest sportscaster in town.