Miami 2019: Jimmy Butler Arrives and Formula 1 Comes Calling

The decade ended the way it had begun — with Miami making a statement. The signing of Jimmy Butler in the 2019 free agency period was the Heat's most significant acquisition since LeBron James, and it signaled that the franchise's patient rebuilding process had produced something real. Butler, one of the NBA's most competitive and versatile players, chose Miami over other suitors — a decision that reflected both the Heat's organizational reputation and the appeal of playing in one of the NBA's most storied franchises.

Formula 1's announcement of plans for a Miami Grand Prix was another statement of the city's growing status as a global sports destination. The race, which would eventually debut at Hard Rock Stadium in 2022, was years in the making — but the announcement itself was a signal that Miami had arrived at a new level of international sporting significance. The city that had hosted Super Bowls, NBA Finals, and Art Basel was about to add the world's most glamorous motorsport series to its calendar.

Art Basel Miami Beach 2019 was another extraordinary edition, and it arrived at the end of a decade that had seen the fair transform from a promising newcomer to an indispensable institution. The fair had become so embedded in Miami's identity that it was impossible to imagine the city without it — impossible to imagine December without the galleries, the collectors, the parties, and the conversations that Art Basel week generates.

The decade that was ending had been, by any measure, extraordinary for Miami. The city had grown more international, more sophisticated, more culturally ambitious, and more economically diverse. It had survived the financial crisis, the LeBron departure, and Hurricane Irma. It had produced world-class art, world-class food, and world-class sports. It had built Brightline, opened Brickell City Centre, and broken ground on Miami Worldcenter.

And Premier Guide Miami had been there for all of it — from the first Art Basel coverage in 2009 to the last story of 2019, from the interviews with the famous and the profiles of the essential, from the restaurant reviews to the concert coverage to the travel stories that showed Miami's readers the world through the city's distinctive lens. The decade ahead would bring challenges none of us could have anticipated. But Miami, as always, would be ready.