Miami Heat, Florida Panthers out to make history, but the Double-Dip Jinx stands in the way | Opinion

The Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final together have reached the doorstep of sports history. Not of repeating it. Of making it. Of doing something never done.

Each team is four wins from making South Florida a double champion in basketball and hockey, which no city or metro area has ever experienced in the same season, not once in the 77 years since the NBA was founded and played concurrently with the NHL.

Standing in the way? The Denver Nuggets, the Vegas Golden Knights and something even bigger and more ominous:

The Double-Dip Jinx.

(Confession. I made up that nickname. What we are talking about is so rare, it didn’t even have one, so...)

Nine times, one city or region has celebrated like South Florida is now.

Nine times, that city or region has failed to pull off two championship parades.

Not only has no one city or region won both the same year, they are only 5-13 trying. The history the Heat and Panthers are following and must solve:

▪ 1957: Boston Celtics won, but the Bruins lost.

▪ 1958: Same two Boston teams in the finals. Both lost.

▪ 1972: New York Knicks and Rangers both lost.

▪ 1974: Celtics won, Bruins lost.

▪ 1980: Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers both lost.

▪ 1992: Chicago Bulls won, but the Blackhawks lost.

▪ 1994: New York Rangers won, but the Knicks lost.

▪ 2003: New Jersey Devils won, but the Nets lost.

▪ 2016: Golden State Warriors Warriors and San Jose Sharks both lost.

That’s 0 for 9 on the double dip. The Double-Dip Jinx.

Miami is the first No. 8 seed in the Finals since the Knicks in 1999 and can become the lowest-seeded champion, a distinction now held by the No. 6 Houston Rockets of ‘95.

Florida can become only the second No. 8 to win it all, after the 2012 Los Angeles Kings.

They already are the only two No. 8s in the same year.

But can they beat the jinx and both win it all?

Broadening the topic to all of the original Big Four sports and including football and baseball, one city or region has had multiple champions in a season 18 times, from the New York in 1927 (Yankees and Giants) to a pair in 2020 with Los Angeles (Lakers and Dodgers) and Tampa (Buccaneers and Lightning).

But never in the two sports that crowns their champs simultaneously.

The Heat plays NBA Finals Game 1 in Denver Thursday and the Panthers open their Stanley Cup Final in Vegas on Saturday. The two Game 7s, if needed, would be one day apart.

The final four is an odd one with the Heat (three titles) the only pedigreed franchise.

The Nuggets have never won anything in 56 seasons and only made the Finals once prior, in 1976 while still in the ABA. Yet Denver is favored because two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic is, well, awesome.

The Panthers are in their first Cup Final since 1996 and seeks their first crown, as does Vegas in only its sixth year of existence, yet the Golden Knights are a slight favorite despite not having a player on the postseason run Matthew Tkachuk is on.

I give both South Florida teams a big chance to make history.

The Double-Dip Jinx would beg to differ.