The Miami Heat's brutal start to the season continued Saturday night with an 115-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, as Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out with less than two minutes remaining. As the Heat are now 0-3, head coach Erik Spoelstra would speak about Antetokounmpo fouling out that comes with a criticism to the officiating crew.

Spoelstra would make sure to say that Miami's loss to Charlotte didn't come down to the referees, as they once again struggled within the margins, shooting 43 percent from the field, 37 percent from deep, once again getting outplayed in critical areas.

Antetokounmpo would finish with 14 points on four of 11 shooting from the field, six of eight from the free-throw line, to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Spoelstra would give his thoughts on the penalties that were called on him, as the two-time MVP got into foul trouble early.

“I just see he's a physical force with the ball in his hands, and whether defenders are protecting themselves from that force or not, that's a foul,” Spoelstra said. “You can't protect yourself and deliver blows when he's under the basket and trying to gather himself. I'm not making this game about the officials, so everybody else can just kick rocks about that. I'm just talking about the physicality that he endures every game, and then he's the one that fouled out.”

Erik Spoelstra isn’t happy with the refs on how they officiated Giannis tonight:

“He's a physical force with the ball in his hands. And whether defenders are protecting themselves from that force or not, that's a foul. You can't protect yourself and deliver blows when he's… https://t.co/VLnm7k3nmY pic.twitter.com/kisWBwrr0v

— The HEAT Realm (@WadexFlash) October 25, 2026

Heat's Giannis Antetokounmpo gets comparison to Shaquille O'Neal

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Spoelstra would continue saying how Antetokounmpo “doesn't foul out very much,” though he sees how “tough” it could be to officiate a player like the superstar, further comparing that aspect to Shaquille O'Neal.

“That's like Shaq. You're defending yourself, and so there's a lot more physicality with stronger players than is allowed with guys that are smaller. And it is what it is,” Spoelstra said. “We'll overcome it no matter what. He's not making any excuses about it. He's not crying about it. And I guess my little mini rant right there probably comes across of that, but I don't care.”

The Heat look for their first win of the season on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks.