Nine games into the Giannis Antetokounmpo era, the Miami Heat are 3-6 and searching for an identity. Evan Turner thinks he knows why. He believes a player as dominant as Antetokounmpo inevitably reshapes a roster around his habits, and in Miami, that shift has come at a cost.
The damage, Turner said, has landed on the two things the franchise prides itself on most. Which is great ball movement, and just defense.” Turner added that Miami has been “terrible defensively” and that Antetokounmpo “going out and doing him night in and night out” hasn’t served his teammates well. That’s the biggest problem.” On defense, the numbers agree with him.
Miami has surrendered more than 110 points in all nine games, and its 118.1 defensive rating sits 26th in the NBA, per NBA.com. That’s a strange slide for a starting lineup featuring Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins, each a proven stopper on his own. Miami traded for Antetokounmpo in June, prying him from the Milwaukee Bucks after a 43-39 finish in 2025-26.
Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. came aboard as support, yet the Heat lost four straight to open the season. Antetokounmpo has voiced his own frustration. After the Los Angeles Lakers beat Miami 138-117 on Nov. 2, he said the Heat were “not playing hard enough.” “Right now we don’t trust one another.
We’re not giving that extra effort.” Following a 120-100 defeat against the Golden State Warriors, he skipped his postgame interviews altogether. None of it shows up in Antetokounmpo’s personal numbers. He’s averaging 27.3 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 56.0% shooting.
It’s an MVP-caliber stat line attached to a 3-6 team with the league’s 26th-ranked defense.
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