While the Miami Heat have only played nine games, frustration is reportedly starting to set in for Giannis Antetokounmpo and company.
To put it mildly, it has not gotten off to the start that anyone envisioned out of the gate. The Heat are just 3-6, with wins against the injury-riddled Indiana Pacers (without Tyrese Haliburton, Ivica Zubac), Atlanta Hawks and lowly Los Angeles Clippers, one of the worst teams in the Western Conference.
That’s not to say that Antetokounmpo has played poorly — or even Bam Adebayo, who’s shaken off a slow start by averaging 24.0 points and 9.4 rebounds on 68.3 percent true shooting over his last five games. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo is averaging 27.3 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists on 60.7 percent true shooting.
But there is still one aspect that the Heat’s newest superstar has drastically underperformed: Defense, specifically off-ball.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s off-ball defense has rapidly declined. That must improve:
If you’re looking to sum Antetokounmpo’s off-ball defense this season, this clip sums it up:
Over his last few seasons in Milwaukee, you could tell he lost a step off-ball, despite finishing top-10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of his five seasons after winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20. His length, anticipation and timing still made him a feared rim protector, and the hope was that he would rekindle some of that spark under Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra alongside Bam Adebayo.
Instead, Antetokounmpo looks like a shell of himself off-ball — with mixed results on-ball. He’s still averaging one block, but his awareness off-ball pales in comparison to even what it was in 2024-25, his final fully healthy season with the Bucks. Antetokounmpo can still make up ground quickly because of his length, but he doesn’t appear to be as consistently engaged on defense as he was in Milwaukee. He’s not as quick laterally and guys are able to play through his chest easier than they used to.
Entering Saturday, the Heat sport the NBA’s fifth-worst defensive rating. If you adjust for strength of schedule, they have the eighth-worst unit. Teams are bombing away from deep; Tim Hardaway Jr., Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins are getting roasted; they aren’t rotating quickly nor are they communicating coverages as efficiently as they need to be.
Antetokounmpo’s struggles defensively feed into the last part. I think it’s in part because of the burden he’s had to shoulder offensively, but if the Heat want to turn this ship around, they are going to need Giannis Antetokounmpo to be better in all areas defensively.
If the Miami Heat can’t guard, they won’t win. And they don’t need to reinvent the wheel with so much of their issues stemming from a lack of effort and chemistry.
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Giannis must have thought all he had to do was show up and coast on defense and excel on offense. Maybe he thought the other players would pick up the slack on defense. If so, he was very wrong.
He must learn to play both offense and defense in a coordinated team effort. The world does not revolve around him.
This is what happens when superstars are coddled and given special treatment and privileges not given to other players. The player loses a sense of accountability and team discipline breaks down.
The next step is Spo’s. If he can’t fix the problem, Riley needs to move forward with other solutions, including being open to trading anyone on the team.