Kings HC Takes Shot At Giannis Antetokounmpo; Erik Spoelstra Responds

The Miami Heat have had an uneven start to the new campaign, but on Sunday night, the Heat recorded a solid 114-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings . Behind a dominant performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo , Bam Adebayo , and a stellar shooting display by Klay Thompson , Miami improved to 4-6 on the season. Despite this, Antetokounmpo found himself on the receiving end of a backhanded remark again . Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Heat’s scoring charge with 29 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. While this was solid enough, it was the superstar’s 14-23 shooting from the field, which included several shots from mid-range, that garnered more attention. For all intents and purposes, Giannis Antetokounmpo has repeatedly proven himself as a reliable shooter. However, during his postgame press conference , Kings head coach Doug Christie fired a shot at the superstar’s shooting ability with a jab. When asked about Antetokounmpo’s shooting, Christie responded: “You know, even the shot profile was Giannis shooting a mid-range, contested shot. We’re living with that. Tonight, he knocked them down. I’ll watch him next game, and he probably won’t.” Needless to say, Christie’s remark comes across as sour, especially when considering that his team fell to 1-9 on the season. Still, while discussing his shot selection on Sunday night and his general success with it, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra had several positive things to say about his superstar . “He’s been working on that, but he always has,”  Spoelstra said about Giannis’ shooting.  “He has a tremendous work ethic. He’s really been working on his posture and getting his balance and timing right. We see him working on it all the time. He’s a very good shooter.” “When you see him in practice sessions, we tell him all the time. Just trust the work. When they’re building that much of a wall, backing way off, those are just kind of rhythm, easy jump shots. When he steps in with good posture, those are good looks for him.” Erik Spoelstra’s faith in Giannis Antetokounmpo may be borne out of watching the superstar during practice sessions. But watching him step in to defend his player from such comments is quite inspiring. In all fairness, Spoelstra also speaks from a place of truth. Although Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t known for his shooting ability, he has shown remarkable improvement over the course of his career. This season, the 32-year-old is still shooting a low volume from beyond 10 feet of the rim. However, between 3 ft. and 10 ft., he is shooting a career-best 70.4%. Even though his 20.8% shooting from beyond the arc doesn’t necessarily inspire much confidence, his 56.0% from the field perfectly captures his overall efficiency. When pairing this with this season’s averages of 27.3 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game, it is clear that he remains incredibly productive. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s stat line is individually impressive. Sadly, it doesn’t do enough to take away from Miami’s current plight . Despite being viewed as contenders in the East in the summer, the Heat have had a surprisingly slow start to the season . While many remain optimistic about the team’s ability to turn it around, Miami must find an answer sooner rather than later to prevent any slides down the Eastern Conference leaderboard.