Appearing in Miami on Thursday at his introductory press conference as a member of the Heatstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said his motivation level is at “a million percent” heading into the 2026/27 season, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“It’s a place I feel like brings pressure, and I thrive under pressure,” Antetokounmpo said. “It brings the best out of me. I’m excited to be coached by (Erik Spoelstra). I’m excited to be around the city. I understand the fans are very passionate, but right now, I’m hungry to win. I want to win and I will do whatever it takes for me to win.”
Spoelstra and Heat president Pat Riley spoke at length on Thursday about how excited they are to bring Antetokounmpo to Miami, with Riley referring to the move as “nirvana for me” and revealing that he yelled and screamed in celebration after reaching a trade agreement with Milwaukee, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“I think this is just part of who the Heat are and the pursuit of excellence,” Riley said. “But you don’t win championships unless you upgrade this on the court and on the bench. … I’m just excited, so excited for this challenge. And (the) challenge is nothing more than playing for higher stakes.”
While the inclusion of big man Bobby Portis was a somewhat overlooked part of the Antetokounmpo trade, Riley stated that acquiring Giannis’ longtime teammate was a “crucial” part of the deal from the Heat’s perspective. Spoelstra expressed enthusiasm about the physicality and versatility that Portis will bring to the club’s new-look frontcourt.
“He’s one of the best-shooting bigs in the league,” Spoelstra said. “He’s a low-post threat. He always has been. He’s a physical rebounder, like we said. And he’s also crafty in a lot of different pick-and-roll coverages defensively. So we think it fits the versatility, the toughness, something that we wanted to address going into this offseason.”
Here are a few more items of interest from around the Southeast:
- Trading fan favorite LaMelo Ball out of Charlotte represents the most significant – and most controversial – roster move Jeff Peterson has made since taking over as the Hornets‘ president of basketball operations in 2024. Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about that decision and the reaction to it, Peterson said that “thick skin” is necessary to do his job the right way. “Look, when I ultimately made the decision to trade LaMelo, I knew that it was not going to go over well with a lot of the fanbase,” Peterson said during a wide-ranging interview. “I understand and respect their position on it. But the minute you start to feed into that, then you can’t do the job. It’s not that you can’t value other people’s opinion or appreciate their opinion. But if you let that weigh in too much on what you’re doing, you’ll get paralyzed.”
- In a conversation with Mark Medina of Fadeaway World, Trae Young‘s agent Aaron Mintz spoke about his client’s new four-year, $212.8MM contract with the Wizards and offered his response to critics who view the deal as an overpay. “When you look at the last two champions in this league, star players played the point guard position,” Mintz said. “It’s the hardest position to find in this league. The Washington Wizards got one of the elite point guards in his prime to run their franchise with all of these young players. He pairs so perfectly with Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr. When you look at what Trae Young does with big men, to me, it is a no-brainer.”
- The Hawks have reached an agreement with Gray Media to broadcast their non-nationally televised games in 2026/27 on the local station WANF (Atlanta News First) and Peachtree Sports Network, per Lauren Williams and Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). The team had been in the market for a new local broadcast partner after Main Street Sports Group, which ran FanDuel Sports Network, shut down.
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