After a frustrating few outings for Miami Heat star Kel'el Ware, there could be concern from certain fans regarding his playing time moving forward if the inconsistent play keeps up. With the Heat's new offense in effect, Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra give insight into Ware and where he's at currently.
Ware is in the midst of his second season in the NBA after an impressive rookie year, where he started a majority of the second half of the 2024-25 campaign. He's also started every game in the regular season so far, though Sunday's outing against the Los Angeles Lakers, where Miami lost 120-110. left a lot to be desired.
After going scoreless and recording a -20 on the court against the San Antonio Spurs, he would be taken out after the first six minutes and missed the rest of the first half of Sunday's game facing the Lakers. Besides two buckets from Ware, he was responsible for opposing center Jaxson Hayes, who had nine points, one of the baskets being a put-back bucket as the Miami center had a -10 on the floor.
The 22-year-old wouldn't come back until the second half and played 12 minutes in total, showing that Ware is still developing as a young player. This led to Adebayo, who has acted as a mentor to Ware, to say that, besides not giving up on him, the big man has a chance to “move the needle,” according to The Miami Herald.
“We’re not going to give up on him,” Adebayo said. “We know how great he can be. He moves the needle for this team.”
Heat's Bam Adebayo on being a mentor to Kel'el Ware
While the Heat's improved offense has been a treat to watch for fans, they also want to see continued growth of Ware, who has been a standout in a lot of games since he was drafted. However, there will be “growing pains” for any young player, as Adebayo described, who spoke about the balance of being a teammate and a leader of Miami, and gives insight into Ware's confidence.
“I’m going to him as a brother. I’m not going to him as no captain, I’m a mentor,” Adebayo said. “So it’s growing pains when it comes to this NBA thing. You get involved and you blink, and it’s, for me, like nine years in. And you’re going to have some growing pains along the way. It’s just, how are you going to grow from those lessons? This is a lesson for him.”
“I feel like he’s one of those guys who’s very even keeled,” Adebayo continued. “So it’s hard to judge if he’s down or not, which I truly respect. Because it’s good to not know, because also you’ve got to add the professionalism to our league. But just talking to him, I don’t feel like he’s discouraged. It’s just lessons he’s got to learn.”
Heat's Erik Spoelstra on benching Kel'el Ware
As Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been a tremendous boost for the Heat to start this season, head coach Erik Spoelstra would utilize him for the majority of the loss to the Lakers, as he scored a game-high 31 points. Ware, on the other hand, was on the bench for a majority of the game, a decision that was downplayed by Spoelstra, saying “it's very nuanced,” while acknowledging how his later minutes were better.
“We were just trying to get a handle on it,” Spoelstra said. “It’s very nuanced. When you have two dynamic pick-and-roll players [Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves] like they had.”
“I thought he bounced back in the third quarter and gave us some quality minutes,” Spoelstra continued.
While Ware continues to work on each side of the ball, there's no doubt that the team sees him as a foundational piece for the team's future. Even Ware would admit that, after the Lakers' loss, his down performances are part of the “learning process” when he was asked about his defense in particular.
“It’s only my second year,” Ware said. “So it’s still a learning process with that, and just getting it down.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Ware continued. “I feel like you got to trust the coach and the decisions that he comes up with. And then you got to go from there and be ready when your name is called.”
At any rate, Ware will look to bounce back from his back-to-back rough outings, starting with a game on Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
