Heat’s Kel’el Ware stepping up after Erik Spoelstra’s call-out: ‘I just got to bring it’
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called out center Kel’el Ware after his underwhelming start to summer league. Ware’s response has been encouraging.
After Spoelstra challenged Ware to “really embrace and improve his professionalism, his consistency, his approach every single day” during a session with reporters on Saturday in Las Vegas, Ware has responded by turning in his two best performances of this year’s summer league.
In Sunday’s summer league loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ware recorded 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 3-of-5 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds, one steal and three blocks in 27 minutes.
One day later, Ware followed up that stat line by totaling 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 shooting on threes and 2-of-4 shooting from the foul line, 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 33 minutes during Monday’s summer league win over the Boston Celtics.
“I thought he did even better than last night,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Eric Glass said after Ware’s summer league double-double against the Celtics. “I thought it was his best game in summer league by far. He sustained throughout the whole game. He had a stretch right in the middle of the fourth quarter where he was gassing out and he just gutted it out with the rest of those guys.”
This impressive two-game stretch comes after Ware averaged just 12 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 13 of 33 (39.4 percent) from the field in his first three summer league appearances this year.
“He’s got to buy in, and that’s hard at first,” retired Heat icon Dwyane Wade said on the latest episode of his show, “Time Out with Dwyane Wade,” when asked about Ware in the wake of Spoelstra’s recent comments. “But if he just understands that if he buys in, he’s going to be great. Just buy into greatness.
“Spo has been around greats. Spo coached Hall of Famers. Spo has won championships, he’s been in the foxhole. If you want to listen to anybody, you listen to Spo. If young fella wants to be great, buy in. Buy into what they’re selling.”
Among the areas that the 21-year-old Ware has improved in over the last two games has been his three-point shooting. He has shot 5 of 6 (83.3 percent) from behind the arc in his last two summer league games after shooting just 1 of 10 (10 percent) from three-point range in his first three summer league appearances this year.
“It’s more of just not thinking about it and just shooting it,” Ware said of his three-point stroke, with the Heat idle until playing its fourth of five summer league games in Las Vegas on Thursday against the Detroit Pistons’ summer squad. “Whenever I don’t think about it and I just shoot it, it’s more of a rhythm and more of a flow to it.”
But Ware, who is averaging 3.2 three-point attempts in five summer league games, knows he likely won’t get as many outside opportunities when the real NBA season begins in October. The 7-footer shot just 35 of 111 (31.5 percent) from three-point range in 64 regular-season appearances as a rookie last season.
“Summer league, yeah,” Ware said with a smile when asked if he has the green light to put up threes. “I just got to continue to work on it. Hopefully it will be like that during the season.”
Three-point makes are not what define Ware’s game, though. The Heat wants to see him use his size and athleticism to dominate in the paint.
Ware has done that since Spoelstra called him out, totaling 20 paint points and 24 rebounds over his last two summer league games. He contributed 22 paint points and 16 rebounds in his first three summer league appearances.
“It’s just something that I got to bring every day and like I said, ‘I will,’” Ware made clear.
The Heat is depending on Ware to live up to those words, as he’s a big part of the team’s plan for this upcoming season. Ware closed last season as the Heat’s starting center, establishing himself as one of the league’s top rookies on his way to earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
“When I do it, it’s more of a presence that’s being felt out there,” said Ware, who was taken by the Heat with the 15th overall pick in last year’s draft. “I just got to bring it, that’s it. Plain and simple.”
HIGHSMITH EXCITED FOR WHAT’S AHEAD
During a Tuesday appearance at Jr. Heat Basketball Camp at Cooper City High School to interact and take photos with young campers, Heat forward Haywood Highsmith spoke about the Heat’s offseason move to acquire veteran guard Norman Powell.
“Another dynamic scorer,” Highsmith said to reporters of how Powell can help the Heat.. “He averaged around 20 points per game last year, should have been an All-Star last year, as well. He adds a different dynamic for us. A guy who you can give the ball to, come off ball screens, come off hand-offs and just get down hill and create different opportunities for everybody.”
The challenge will be integrating Powell into a Heat team that’s currently set to bring back 11 players from last season’s season-ending roster.
“Obviously, we still have the same core. Tyler [Herro], Bam [Adebayo], [Andrew Wiggins], [Davion Mitchell], as well with Kel’el,” Highsmith said. “So I’m excited to just get everybody back, get a full year and everybody gets connected to the system. Training camp, everybody getting jelled together and we’ll figure out how to throw Norman in the mix and we’ll go from there.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 1:04 PM.
