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Jeff Teague drops blunt quote on playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo
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- Jeff Teague drops blunt quote on playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo
This summer, the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks completed a blockbuster trade, sending former league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach in exchange for a package of players and prospects.
So far, the early returns for both teams have been supremely underwhelming.
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Both Miami and Milwaukee have opened up the 2026-27 NBA season 0-3, as both teams have looked terrible so far this season.
ALSO READ: NBA teams are done bending to unhappy stars
We already knew that the rebuilding Bucks would be bad this season, but to see Miami lose their first three games of the season in a year they are trying to win an NBA Championship has been shocking, to say the least.
Well, maybe not so much if you are Jeff Teague , Antetokounmpo's former Bucks teammate on the 2021 NBA Championship squad, who isn't surprised at all by the Heat's slow start.
Jeff Teague and Giannis Antetokounmpo won the 2021 NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks.Nathaniel S. Butler / Getty Images
Jeff Teague thinks playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo is difficult
Speaking on the Club 520 Podcast , Teague dropped a blunt quote on Antetokounmpo, criticizing his former teammate as a difficult player to team up with, while suggesting that Jrue Holiday is the only man who ever had a good showing playing alongside him.
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"Giannis got to change the way he play. It was not fun playing with Giannis. Doesn't mean he's not a great player, but he's a very tough player to play with. Jrue Holiday is only guy I've seen have success with him," Teague said.
These are surprising words to hear from Teague, who teamed up with Antetokounmpo on the '21 Bucks and won an NBA title that season.
Related: Miami Heat gutted depth for Giannis Antetokounmpo (was it worth it?)
But while it's tough to hear these kinds of words, if anyone would know about how difficult it is to play with Antetokounmpo, it's someone like Teague, who was part of that championship-winning Bucks squad.
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If anything, it seems like Teague is just saying the quiet part out loud, and that this isn't necessarily a secret.
But it's still wild to hear a former teammate rip apart Antetokounmpo like this in public on a podcast that everyone can listen to.
Maybe, though, just maybe, Antetokounmpo needs to hear the harsh truth.
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What can Miami Heat do to turn things around?
It's still early, but the 0-3 Heat look awful so far this season, as nothing is really clicking on this team.
Antetokounmpo's personal stats are good, but he has not meshed well with Heat captain Bam Adebayo .
Offseason acquisitions Tim Hardaway Jr. and Klay Thompson haven't really done much to help.
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The only Heat players who are playing well right now are Davion Mitchell , Bobby Portis , and Antetokounmpo.
But while Antetokounmpo's personal stats are incredible once again, the team isn't winning, and that's not what Heat president Pat Riley and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra wanted when they made this blockbuster trade.
So, would Antetokounmpo be willing to see his stats go down if the team wins? He should, in theory, because he said the reason he wanted out of Milwaukee was to win another NBA Championship.
But based on what we've seen in Miami so far this season, that simply isn't the case.
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The Heat still have the potential to turn things around this season because they have a legitimate top-five player in the league in Antetokounmpo on their roster, and anytime you have a true NBA superstar, you can win in this league.
But it might not be fun for the other players on the Heat, and it might take some growing pains for things to really start clicking in Miami.
Based on what Teague is saying, maybe it's time the Heat called up the Portland Trail Blazers and asked what the price would be to acquire Holiday, as that might be the secret sauce that Antetokounmpo needs to ramp up his game and get the Heat back on the winning track.
Related: Pairing Sharpshooter Klay Thompson With Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Brilliant (On Paper)
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This story was originally published by Lindy's Sports on Oct 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Lindy's Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
