Erik Spoelstra didn’t hide his frustration after the Miami Heat fell to the Charlotte Hornets, and the issue that set him off was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s whistle.
The Heat are sitting at 0-3 to open the 2026-27 NBA season, a rough beginning for a team that was expected to be one of the biggest offseason improvers. Instead, Miami has stumbled out of the gate, and Antetokounmpo’s foul trouble against Charlotte became the latest headache.
He had looked dominant in the first two games, averaging over 30 points per game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons. But against the Hornets, he never found a rhythm. Antetokounmpo picked up foul trouble throughout the night and eventually fouled out after just 25 minutes, undercutting Spoelstra’s plans.
Miami leaned heavily on its other starters to keep the game afloat. Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell, and Pelle Larsson all logged more than 36 minutes, but the Heat still couldn’t get their first win.
Spoelstra made clear he wasn’t putting the entire loss on the officials, but he didn’t like what he saw when it came to how Antetokounmpo was being treated. He said he wants more referees to properly officiate the star forward because he believes Antetokounmpo is getting hit hard while the whistles are going the other way.
"I'm not making this game about the officials so everybody else can just kick rocks. I'm just talking about the physicality he endures every game, and then he's the one fouling out? - That's like Shaq," Spoelstra said after the Heat's loss to the Hornets.
The 0-3 start is Miami’s worst opening stretch since the 2007-08 season, when the Heat went 15-67. With Giannis and Bam leading the way, that was never supposed to be the kind of company this team keeps, but that’s where the season stands right now.
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