'Right now, we don't trust one another': What's fueling the rocky start for Giannis and the Heat

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  Ramona ShelburneNov 9, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Senior writer for ESPN.com
  • Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News

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IF THE NIGHT had ended differently, Klay Thompson would have had a very different agenda for his off day in Los Angeles. There had been talk of a visit to Catalina Island and extended visits with friends and family in his hometown.

But those plans evaporated quickly after the Miami Heat gave up a staggering 138 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last Monday.

"We need to practice," Thompson said.

It was Miami's fourth game of its first seven in which the defense had given up 125 or more points -- and it could've been worse. The Lakers had scored 79 points in the first half.

"It's important for all of us to stay present and not look too far ahead in the season," Thompson told ESPN. "When you have big expectations, you think about the postseason, you think about seeding. I think we just need to really stay week-to-week.

"That's the true joy when you build a great team. It's just the beginning stages, and then you see it jell."

Thompson would know.

The five-time All-Star won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors and said he still believes in what this Heat team can become just as much as he did when he gave up millions of dollars in a contract buyout with the Dallas Mavericks to join Miami this summer to play alongside superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Milwaukee Bucks in June.

"That Heat culture is real," Thompson said. "I just love the intensity and competitiveness from everyone in this organization. Mr. Riley, Coach. My dad [Mychal Thompson] played for Mr. Riley [with the Lakers], so this is a pretty full-circle moment for us."

But this 4-6 Heat team has a long way to go before being considered great -- or maybe even playoff-bound.

Through 10 games, Miami has been outscored by 53 points. The Heat's defense has been downright putrid, ranking 25th in the league despite having several award-winning individual defenders.

Antetokounmpo is a former Defensive Player of the Year. Center Bam Adebayo has six All-Defensive team selections. Point guard Davion Mitchell's nickname is "Off Night" because of the suffocating pressure he applies on opposing ball handlers. Swingman Andrew Wiggins has been an elite perimeter defender at times during his career.

Through the first three weeks of the season, those individual accolades haven't translated.

"It can't just be on paper, and it can't just be reputation," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It has to be backed up by real actions."

When asked if the team simply needed time, Spoelstra scoffed.

"I don't know, but we don't want to use that as an excuse," he said. "The league's not waiting."

Antetokounmpo had a more specific assessment.

"Right now, we don't trust one another," he said after the loss to the Lakers. "We don't give that extra effort. We did it for two games, but we keep on having bad habits creep up in games."

SPOELSTRA HAS ALREADY addressed some of those bad habits during film sessions, but Antetokounmpo said he's well-aware of where and how the Heat are falling short defensively.

"When a guy beats you off the dribble, sometimes you don't close out all the way," he said. "Because you feel like he's going to beat you off the dribble, and that is because you don't feel like somebody has your back.

He continued.

"Then you give them their space to be able to get a step-back 3, pull up for the 3," he said. "You got to do your job. I got to do my job. When the shot goes up, I got to box out and get the rebound.

"They got to trust that I'm going to get them. When I'm talking about trust, that's what I'm talking about."

Opponents are shooting a 39.4 percent from 3 against the Heat (third-highest in the league) in large part because they are giving up a league-worst 20.5 open 3s per game.

Opponents are also making an average of 16.4 3-pointers per game against the Heat, also most in the league.

There's plenty of blame to go around. The Heat aren't pointing fingers -- yet.

Instead, during the team's swing through Los Angeles, the Heat got visits from three of their pillars.

Heat president Pat Riley was at both games in Los Angeles, visiting the locker room after the loss to the Lakers and the team's shootaround before the Clippers game Wednesday. Heat legend Dwyane Wade also attended that shootaround at UCLA.

Former Heat captain Udonis Haslem was at the shootaround last Monday, in shorts and on the court with the team. Haslem, who spent 20 years on Miami's bench and has long served as the embodiment of the Heat culture, addressed the team.

He wouldn't share what he said. Neither would his audience.

"It's just him showing he cares," Adebayo told ESPN. "That's really the answer I can give you about what he said."

It's not uncommon for these three to be around their team. But this early in a season with expectations as high as this one, it was notable. And intentional.

SPOELSTRA WON'T GO as far as to compare the expectations for this team to what he lived through in 2010 when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade in Miami.

The pressure on him and that team was withering during its infamous 9-8 start.

The difference with that team, Spoelstra said, was that it was great defensive squad from the beginning.

"We were winning games with our defense, and it was clunky offensively," he said. "We really had to work at that. [This year] things have gone a lot better early offensively for us than we anticipated. Even if our guys don't necessarily feel like it's really smooth, we put up some big numbers in some of the games."

He's right, but barely. Miami's offense is ranked 20th, and it is still clearly trying to figure out how to space the floor effectively with both Antetokounmpo and Adebayo on the court.

The team has increased its offensive flexibility with the help of consultant Noah LaRoche, whose schemes emphasizes spacing and deemphasizes pick-and-rolls.

Depending on the matchup, Spoelstra will alternate between that offense and more traditional pick-and-roll sets.

After starting 0-4, and averaging just 23.5 on-ball screens per game, Spoelstra shifted the offense to run 57 on-ball screens to get a win versus the Hawks, their first of the season.

When they do run on-ball screens, the Heat have the most efficient offense in the league. But they average 22.3 per game -- the fewest in the NBA.

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Miami Heat vs. LA Clippers: Game Highlights

MYCHAL THOMPSON WAS waiting for his son outside the Heat's locker room Monday night.

Those were the only plans his son wanted to keep after the shellacking the Heat just took.

Thompson dressed quickly, leaving the locker room in a black King of Spades jacket by Second Act so he could meet his dad.

Two nights later, Thompson went out and dropped 30 points on 11-for-22 shooting, including the winning 3-pointer in overtime, to beat the Clippers.

It was the best he has felt physically and mentally in years, he said.

"I'm just really inspired not only by my performance tonight, but our team's," Thompson said.

"It was gritty. It wasn't pretty. But it was nice to gut it out because we've been in the mud to start the season."