The Miami Heat finally lured another superstar when they traded for Milwaukee Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason. The Bucks dealt their superstar forward, along with veteran forward Bobby Portis, to the Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks (including the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, which was used on Tennessee forward Nate Ament), one pick swap, and one second-round pick.

The ‘Greek Freak’ is already an all-time great, but the Heat are off to a 0-4 start, and one NBA legend listed a surprising reason for the Heat’s winless start.

Charles Barkley Calls Miami Heat Star Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘Hard to Play With’

Antetokounmpo has earned almost every accolade you can imagine. Antetokounmpo is a 10-time All-Star, has made the All-NBA First Team seven times, the Second Team twice, is a former Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time MVP and perhaps most importantly, led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA title, winning Finals MVP in the process.

Statistically, Antetokounmpo is certainly doing his part. The 31-year-old is putting up 28.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. Antetokounmpo had 35 and 36 points in Miami’s first two games, a 131-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 128-111 loss to the Detroit Pistons, looking largely uncompetitive against what should be two of the better teams in the league this season.

According to Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley, as great as Antetokounmpo is, he is difficult to play with.

“He’s a great player, but I think he’s difficult to play with,” Barkley explained. They had that one good year with Jrue Holiday and [Khris] Middleton. Jrue could get the ball and distribute it. Middleton was their closer, but think about it, they haven’t had a lot of success.”

Milwaukee’s postseason results declined after its 2021 championship. The Bucks reached the second round in 2022, lost in the opening round in each of the next three seasons, and missed the playoffs altogether in 2025-26.

“Giannis is hard to play with,” Barkley continued. “When you watch those games and we had them the first night, he gets the ball and he’s going one on five every time! There’s no ball movement, there’s no body movement. Bam [Adebayo] is just standing out there and he’s not a great three-point shooter. Like I say, he’s a great player but he’d be very difficult to play with.”

Davion Mitchell has had a solid start, averaging 18.0 points per game, but Adebayo is putting up 11.8 points per game, and Portis (10.3) is the only other player averaging in double figures.

Obviously, the Heat have to find a way for Antetokounmpo and Adebayo to gel and begin to get other players involved in the offense if they want to become a contender in the Eastern Conference once again.