<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heats-erik-spoelstra-addresses-starting-kelel-ware-over-nikola-jovic-in-grizzlies-blowout');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra addresses starting Kel’el Ware over Nikola Jovic in Grizzlies blowout');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kelel-Ware-on-October-24th-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra addresses starting Kel’el Ware over Nikola Jovic in Grizzlies blowout</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-25T15:00:30-07:00">October 25th, 3:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-25T15:00:30-07:00">October 25th, 3:00pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayo-miami-detail-new-fun-offense-in-blowout-win-vs-grizzlies">Miami Heat had a blowout win against the Memphis Grizzlies</a> on Friday night, 146-114, to get their first victory of the season, there was a certain lineup change that fans had been waiting for that could’ve led to the performance. With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-fans-flaming-grizzlies-near-40-point-halftime-deficit">Heat having a nearly 40-point lead at halftime</a>, it was a historic night as head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke on starting Kel’el Ware instead of Nikola Jovic.</p><p>That had been the question all training camp and preseason, as fans were wondering who would start alongside Bam Adebayo and headline Miami’s frontcourt. In the opening loss to the Orlando Magic, Spoelstra went with Jovic, but switched to Ware on Friday night, leading to the big win.</p><p>Granted, Miami’s offense looked good in both games, playing at a much faster pace, which was a key goal for the team throughout the offseason. In the preseason, Spoelstra started Jovic to start, but went to Ware in the later exhibition games due to an injury.</p><p>However, Spoelstra would reveal that he was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1VygdhcZWI" rel="noopener">“leaning”</a> in starting Ware in the opener, but the big man had dealt with neck spasms and an ankle injury going into the game.</p><p>“The last four days of preseason, both guys were hurt,” Spoelstra said, via the team’s YouTube page. “I’m talking about Kel’el and Niko [Jovic]. They were minor injuries. But I didn’t know who was going to be available that first night. I was kind of leaning toward this starting lineup going into game one. And then Kel’el had a neck spasm. Then he had a minor sprained ankle, where he didn’t practice the day before the game. But he was moving great in the Orlando game.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on utilizing Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Nikola-Jovic-on-October-24th-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayo-does-best-stephen-curry-impression-4-1st-quarter-3s">Heat’s captain Bam Adebayo doing his best Stephen Curry impression</a> in lighting it up from three to start, putting Ware at the center does give Adebayo a chance to contribute more in the scoring department. Adebayo would score 18 of Miami’s first 25 points to finish with 24 points on the game as Ware had 19 points and nine rebounds.</p><p>Still, Jovic was a crucial player in the rorotationscoring 20 points off the bench to go along with six rebounds and four assists.</p><p>“This is a good way to get all three of those guys the minutes that we need in Bam and Kel’el and Niko,” Spoelstra said. “But we’ll see. There might be certain games where it makes more sense to start Niko. It doesn’t really matter in my mind. I know, probably to other people it might. But those guys are going to get minutes, and we need Kel’el and Niko to grow and assume more responsibilities as the season goes on.”</p><p>Jovic would say after the game that it was a “matchup” reason for him not starting, but emphasized he doesn’t mind where he plays. Fans will see how and if the starting lineup will change as the Heat takes on the New York Knicks on Sunday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra addresses starting Kel’el Ware over Nikola Jovic in Grizzlies blowout

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-downplays-challenging-kelel-ware-hard');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra downplays ‘challenging’ Kel’el Ware hard');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Erik-Spoelstra-and-Kelel-Ware-on-March-8-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra downplays ‘challenging’ Kel’el Ware hard</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-21T14:49:27-07:00">October 21st, 2:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-21T14:49:27-07:00">October 21st, 2:49pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstras-encouraged-kelel-ware-admission-amidst-impressive-preseason">Miami Heat center Kel’el Ware had an impressive preseason</a>, there were a ton of narratives and storylines made about head coach Erik Spoelstra challenging the 21-year-old hard. Though the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-how-kelel-ware-uses-erik-spoelstras-challenges-as-motivation">Heat star uses Spoelstra’s challenges</a>, the head coach believes that it’s been taken out of proportion.</p><p>In the offseason, Spoelstra would express that Ware needs to improve in his “professionalism” among other traits, a nugget that fans and the basketball world latched on to. Speaking after Tuesday’s practice, Spoelstra would downplay the storylines, saying that he did not <a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/10/21/heat-a-work-in-progress-as-season-opens-spoelstra-clarifies-on-ware-jakucionis-out/" rel="noopener">“challenge him that strongly,”</a> while also mentioning that he has enjoyed watching Ware improve.</p><p>“I didn’t even challenge him that strongly,” Spoelstra said, according to The Sun Sentinel. “I just mentioned very matter of fact about his game, I like the progress he’s making. We’re going to continue to coach him and push him. We see the talent there. He really can add a lot to our team.</p><p>“He wants us to coach him and that’s what we owe him, for him to reach his full potential,” Spoelstra continued.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo duo</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kelel-Ware-on-Oct.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Rassol-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Though <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-unsure-on-starting-lineup-without-tyler-herro-heres-what-it-should-be">Ware’s starting for the Heat remains a question</a> for the season, the Indiana product is looking to build off what was an impressive rookie season, being selected to the NBA’s All-Rookie second team. He would eventually start for the majority of the second half of the season last year, headlining the front court with Bam Adebayo.</p><p>However, that hasn’t been the plan this preseason, as when healthy, Nikola Jovic has been with Adebayo in the front court, though Ware filled in when Jovic was injured. Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/HeatCulture13/status/1980353115728810192" rel="noopener">would also downplay</a> any loss in chemistry in the Ware-Adebayo duo.</p><p>“I think they’re fine. Yeah, they’ve had some time now since training camp, and those minutes last year to play off each other,” Spoelstra said Monday. “They feel comfortable with it. So there’s some good things we can build on. For sure, we just don’t want them, like, taking up the same space, you know, that doesn’t do us any good. But they’re aware of it, and they’ve been working on it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Coach Spo speaks on the Bam and Ware lineup, also not committed to a starting lineup yet</p><p>“I’m still deciding, we’ll figure it out. Whatever the starting lineup is for game one it might not be for game two”</p><p>Also says “depth” is one of this teams best strengths</p><p>(Via <a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiamiHEAT</a>)… <a href="https://t.co/CzE0pSg1Tt">pic.twitter.com/CzE0pSg1Tt</a></p><p>— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeatCulture13/status/1980353115728810192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At any rate, Ware is questionable for Miami’s opener on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, with a left ankle sprain.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra downplays ‘challenging’ Kel’el Ware hard

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstras-encouraged-kelel-ware-admission-amidst-impressive-preseason');   ga('set', 'title', 'Erik Spoelstra’s ‘encouraged’ Kel’el Ware admission amidst impressive Heat preseason');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kelel-Ware-on-Oct-12-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Erik Spoelstra’s ‘encouraged’ Kel’el Ware admission amidst impressive Heat preseason</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-13T14:38:37-07:00">October 13th, 2:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-13T14:38:37-07:00">October 13th, 2:38pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-how-kelel-ware-uses-erik-spoelstras-challenges-as-motivation">Miami Heat star Kel’el Ware has been challenged</a> by head coach Erik Spoelstra throughout the offseason, training camp, and currently in preseason, the motivation has no doubt led to development and success. While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-lays-out-goals-kelel-ware-sophomore-season">Heat center has goals for his sophomore season</a>, he had another impressive preseason performance that led to praise from Spoelstra.</p><p>Though winless in preseason, there have been many bright spots like Ware in the 120-104 loss to the Orlando Magic, who scored a game-high 24 points on nine of 17 shooting from the field, two of four from deep, to go along with 10 rebounds. Coming off multiple double-double outings, Spoelstra said he is <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article312479066.html" rel="noopener">“encouraged”</a> by the progress he’s making as it goes far beyond the statsheet, according to The Miami Herald.</p><p>“I’m encouraged by it,” Spoelstra said. “Look, everybody has so much attention on him and what I’m going to say about him. He’s getting better. You can see the talent.”</p><p>“I would much rather coach somebody who’s willing to be coached, who can put up 24 [points] and 10 [rebounds], and figure out how to get those winning moments during the course of a game,” Spoelstra said. “That’s where we are.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on playing Kel’el Ware with Bam Adebayo</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With the speculation of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-drops-honest-take-on-chance-to-start-for-miami">whether the Heat will start Ware this upcoming season</a>, that remains to be seen, but he has no doubt impressed Spoelstra in not just racking up points and rebounds, but playing winning basketball. Spoelstra would highlight Ware’s presence on the offensive glass that impressed him.</p><p>“He did some impressive things,” Spoelstra said. “I love the way he was on the offensive glass, and we’ll just continue to work with him.”</p><p>Last season, Ware started a majority of games in the second half of the season, headlining a front court with Bam Adebayo that ended up being productive. However, they have yet to log any minutes this preseason, with either Jovic starting alongside Adebayo, and on Sunday, that saw Ware started when the All-Star was inactive.</p><p>“Well, we did see some good moments with them last year and I’ll continue to be open to it,” Spoelstra said. “We’re looking at some other things right now, but all things are on the table.”</p><p>Fans will have to wait and see if Spoelstra ends up starting Ware along with Adebayo, but the Heat is preparing for the regular season on Oct. 22 against the Orlando Magic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Erik Spoelstra’s ‘encouraged’ Kel’el Ware admission amidst impressive Heat preseason

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-how-kelel-ware-uses-erik-spoelstras-challenges-as-motivation');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Heat’s Kel’el Ware uses Erik Spoelstra’s challenges as ‘motivation’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kelel-Ware-on-Oct.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Rassol-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Heat’s Kel’el Ware uses Erik Spoelstra’s challenges as ‘motivation’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-09T14:12:08-07:00">October 9th, 2:12pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-09T14:12:47-07:00">October 9th, 2:12pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-lays-out-goals-kelel-ware-sophomore-season">Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has laid out goals for Kel’el Ware</a>, who is heading into his sophomore season after an impressive rookie year, there’s no doubt that this preseason will be vital for his development. While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-how-a-natural-connection-between-up-and-coming-stars-creates-bright-future">young up-and-coming Heat star dominated</a> in Wednesday’s 112-107 preseason loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Ware seems to have taken Spoelstra’s challenges to heart.</p><p>In Monday’s 103-93 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Ware would have 18 points and 13 rebounds, but also sported a -21 on the floor, having questionable moments on both sides of the ball. It led to Spoelstra saying after the game that he looks beyond the stat line, saying he emphasizes game-winning plays, though he mentioned before Wednesday’s game to ClutchPoints that <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976046060289347995" rel="noopener">there was a three-to-four-minute stretch that impressed him.</a></p><p>“<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1975387547670094233" rel="noopener">I’m not looking at the stat line</a>,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s outing. “I think everybody is looking at the wrong thing. It’s got to impact the game. I want him the next game to be a plus 20. That’s what it’s about.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra spoke about Kel’el Ware’s performance tonight and the impactful moments that he did have. Despite the double-double, spoke about a three-minute stretch that truly impacted the game. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/Py8pt7iQ6Q">pic.twitter.com/Py8pt7iQ6Q</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1975387547670094233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Ware took Spoelstra’s challenge and used it as fuel to have a dominating game on Wednesday, scoring a game-high 29 points on 12 of 19 shooting from the field, three of six from deep, to go along with 12 rebounds and a block. He would say after Wednesday’s loss to San Antonio that he takes what his head coach tells him as <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976114725655281959" rel="noopener">“motivation.”</a></p><p>“I always take anything that Spo says as motivation, I take it and I try to impact it into my game, and I try to play as hard as I can, I was still getting my legs back in front of me from training camp,” Ware said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Full comments from Kel’el Ware after an impressive game against the Spurs tonight. </p><p>He speaks about answering Spo’s challenges, how it made him feel, and questions from me about that “natural connection” with Kasparas Jakucionis, and more. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/fGQDkxqz92">pic.twitter.com/fGQDkxqz92</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976114725655281959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra cites the “progress” that Kel’el Ware is making</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-drops-honest-take-on-chance-to-start-for-miami">question of Ware starting for the Heat</a> this upcoming year, he did so in the second half of last season, headlining an exciting frontcourt with Bam Adebayo. However, Ware has yet to start in the preseason, with Spoelstra instead putting Nikola Jovic with Adebayo as the Indiana product continues to develop.</p><p>For Spoelstra, the game on Wednesday showed Ware putting “a lot of it together,” highlighting his performance that was filled with “force,” citing it as <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976120129768542354" rel="noopener">“progress.”</a></p><p>“Of course, Kel’el, he put a lot of it together tonight,” Spoelstra said. “His pick-and-roll coverages were really good. He was protecting the basket, was closing out when he needed to, rebounded the ball very well, and he was playing with force…And he also made some plays where he got in the paint and spread it out. So that’s definitely progress.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra about the impact Kasparas Jakucionis had right from the jump. </p><p>“…He has a kamikaze element to him. Him and Pelle are going to spend a lot of time on the ground. He’s like jet fuel…” </p><p>Would add Kel’el Ware “put a lot of it together tonight.” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/qWJBPUOR2F">pic.twitter.com/qWJBPUOR2F</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976120129768542354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>An eye-opening trend on Wednesday was the connection with rookie point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, with Spoelstra explaining why they’re both a <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976120389123416339" rel="noopener">“natural connection.”</a></p><p>“They’ve played together some, but I think it’s more a product of Kel’el’s great hands; he’s a vertical threat. Kas [Jakucionis] sees it,” Spoelstra said. “He can deliver it, but he also can deliver the pocket pass, kind of set you up, and let the big do the rest of the work. That’s a good quality, if you have kind of a synergy between a couple of guys, I think that’s definitely a good thing.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra spoke about Kasparas Jakucionis’ vision and how he and Kel’el Ware have a “natural connection.” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/oNGijk2tp1">pic.twitter.com/oNGijk2tp1</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976120389123416339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Ware will continue to answer Spoelstra’s challengers throughout the preseason with the next game on Sunday against the Orlando Magic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Heat’s Kel’el Ware uses Erik Spoelstra’s challenges as ‘motivation’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-lays-out-goals-kelel-ware-sophomore-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra lays out goals for Kel’el Ware in sophomore season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Erik-Spoelstra-and-Kelel-Ware-on-March-8-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra lays out goals for Kel’el Ware in sophomore season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-08T15:38:31-07:00">October 8th, 3:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-08T15:38:31-07:00">October 8th, 3:38pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-reveals-encouraging-signs-he-saw-from-nikola-jovic-vs-bucks">the Miami Heat showing some encouraging signs</a>, despite the 0-2 start in the preseason before Wednesday’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs, the one storyline fans are following surrounds Kel’el Ware. As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-drops-honest-take-on-chance-to-start-for-miami">Heat fans wonder if Ware will start for the team</a>, head coach Erik Spoelstra ran through the steps he wants to see from the young star, who’s entering his second season.</p><p>In Monday night’s 103-93 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the preseason, Ware once again came off the bench and recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds, though he recorded a -20 on the floor. Spoelstra would emphasize Ware making winning plays on a consistent level, and highlighted to ClutchPoints a three-to-four-minute stretch that impressed him, stating<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976046060289347995" rel="noopener"> “short-term goals”</a> was the game plan.</p><p>“It’ll be like short-term goals. A plus-20, it may or may not be that, it’s about, whenever he’s in the game, make an impact,” Spoelstra said in his pre-game press conference before Wednesday’s outing against the Spurs. “And I was really encouraged by that three-to-four-minute stretch, you know, I watched it again a couple times. We watched it with him. Everything about it was winning basketball. Even the drive was with force, and they called it travel. That may or may not have been a travel, but there was a force to that.”</p><p>“Defensively, he was up on all his coverages, he was rebounding, doing things with a spirit, communicated once with Myron [Gardner], vociferously about a matchup, and that’s the kind of passion and intent that we would like to see more consistently,” Spoelstra continued. “And that’s young players in this league. There aren’t many young players that come into this league that are impacting winning right away. It’s a process.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra about Kel’el Ware’s outing last game and the need for more winning plays. Mentioned how “short-term goals” are the emphasis. </p><p>Would say he watched again that 3-4 minute segment in the second half that wowed him. Full response: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/BCx8Bddue2">pic.twitter.com/BCx8Bddue2</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1976046060289347995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra continues to challenge Kel’el Ware </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kelel-Ware-on-Oct.-6-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-responds-to-erik-spoelstra-putting-him-on-blast">Heat relationship between Spoelstra and Ware</a> has been under a magnifying glass since challenging him on improving his <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1lyg5vw/coach_spoelstra_with_a_strong_statement_on_kelel/" rel="noopener">“professionalism,”</a> the head coach sees major potential in the center, who is still 21 years old. At this point, Ware is a walking double-double, but Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1975387547670094233" rel="noopener">wants to see more,</a> as he said after the loss to the Bucks.</p><p>“I’m not looking at the stat line,” Spoelstra said. “I think everybody is looking at the wrong thing. It’s got to impact the game. I want him the next game to be a plus 20. That’s what it’s about. That’s part of the maturation for a young player. He does really good things, and then when you aren’t able to do it consistently, it doesn’t impact the game. You don’t want to have deflating plays. You want to have inspiring plays.”</p><p>“There was a three-minute segment where it actually impacted the game. The rest of it has to impact the game,” Spoelstra continued. “That steal he had at half-court was an inspiring play that impacted the moment. There was probably a three-minute stretch there. I want to take that three-minute stretch and see what his plus-minus was on that because it impacted the game.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra spoke about Kel’el Ware’s performance tonight and the impactful moments that he did have. Despite the double-double, spoke about a three-minute stretch that truly impacted the game. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/Py8pt7iQ6Q">pic.twitter.com/Py8pt7iQ6Q</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1975387547670094233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Last season, Ware was a mainstay in the starting lineup in the second half of the schedule, headlining an exciting front court with Bam Adebayo, leading to him earning a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie second team. However, there is more work to be done as Ware has the preseason to prepare for until the regular season opener on Oct. 22 against the Orlando Magic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra lays out goals for Kel’el Ware in sophomore season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-drops-honest-take-on-chance-to-start-for-miami');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kel’el Ware drops honest take on chance to start for Heat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Kel’el Ware drops honest take on chance to start for Heat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-30T20:27:26-07:00">September 30th, 8:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-30T20:27:26-07:00">September 30th, 8:27pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/exclusive-how-heats-jaime-jaquez-jr-is-readjusting-his-focus-after-sophomore-slump">Miami Heat set their focus on the 2025-26 season</a>, one player that the fanbase is monitoring is Kel’el Ware when it comes to the role in head coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation. With some predicting a<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-player-who-will-shock-world-with-breakout-2025-26-season"> breakout season for the young Heat star,</a> his status on the team in the lineup has been in question as he speaks truthfully about the speculation.</p><p>Selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, he brought an exciting skillset to Miami, which was a need for the team, being an athletic seven-footer. He built his way to starting towards the middle of the season and being a mainstay next to Bam Adebayo in the front court, but ended the season in frustrating fashion against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs.</p><p>Still, he had an impressive rookie season, bringing excitement and a new look to the team with size and impact on both sides of the ball. The talk has led to this season, wondering whether he will begin the season in the starting lineup, but to Ware, he said during the first day of training camp that he doesn’t care what role he plays;<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1973068957000052799" rel="noopener"> he cares more about winning.</a></p><p>“I’m not the coach, so I can’t pick and choose the role for me to play, but whatever that role is, I will play,” Ware said.</p><p>“Nah,” Ware said when asked if he cares that he starts or not. “Whatever the role is, I’ll play it…To be honest, I just want to win.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Full comments from Kel’el Ware today at Day 1 of training camp. Includes answers when asked by me about Bam’s DPOY claim about him and what he worked on this summer. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/5u7cilpN98">pic.twitter.com/5u7cilpN98</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1973068957000052799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat sees a lot of potential in Kel’el Ware </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-responds-to-erik-spoelstra-putting-him-on-blast">Heat head coach in Spoelstra spoke about Ware needing to improve</a> in consistency with his<a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/07/12/spoelstra-speaks-of-wiggins-as-a-heat-keeper-insists-ware-improve-his-professionalism/" rel="noopener"> “professionalism,”</a> as said during the summer, there’s no denying that the team sees a lot of potential with the Indiana product.</p><p>Even star Bam Adebayo would say during Monday’s media day that he is<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1972723677155225908" rel="noopener"> “hard”</a> on Ware, even thinking that the 21-year-old could think he’s “crazy,” but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.</p><p>“I don’t think he’s crazy,” Ware said as he chuckled. “I just think it’s him wanting me to get better. Obviously, that’s what it is; this is him wanting the best for me. I take it as motivation as I try to get better myself.”</p><p>In his rookie season, Ware would make the NBA’s All-Rookie second team for his effortse, showing the talent to be a foundational piece in Miami’s future. Adebayo even said to ClutchPoints back in May that Ware could be a future Defensive Player of the Year award winner, something that the young star also sees himself winning.</p><p>“Of course, I feel like that will come when I’m playing at my best and me playing as hard as I can. Everything will fall into place when I start doing it,” Ware said to ClutchPoints.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware in the rotation</b></h2><p>With the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-terry-rozier-is-ready-for-2025-26-season-despite-federal-investigation"> Heat players getting ready for the 2025-26 season</a>, the questions around the team’s rotation remain a question mark, especially around Ware. Even Spoelstra would speak about the<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1972688225798902007" rel="noopener"> “element of unknown”</a> right now with the team and how Ware factors into that.</p><p>“There’s an element of unknown with this team and this season, and it has invigorated me,” Spoelstra said Monday. “I am embracing the unknown…. Despite what people think my tenor is with him, I enjoyed coaching Kel’El. he is learning the head coach’s standards of approaching every single day to strive for excellence and not accept anything less than that? As a young player, then you learn that impacts winnings.</p><p>“Is he there yet? No,” Spoelstra continued. “Does he show signs of that? Yes, he does really care. He and Bam had some good moments together. In the playoffs, it wasn’t good. He’s positioning himself for an important role. He’ll have to prove it; he will have to earn it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra speaks on the prospects of Kel’el Ware being the starter alongside Bam Adebayo and the “unknown” of it all. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/PjHaMlGlDm">pic.twitter.com/PjHaMlGlDm</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1972688225798902007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At any rate, Miami will continue to prepare during this week’s training camp at Florida Atlantic University before the first preseason game on Saturday in Puerto Rico against the Orlando Magic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kel’el Ware drops honest take on chance to start for Heat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-dwyane-wade-urges-kelel-ware-buy-in-after-erik-spoelstra-challenge');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dwyane Wade urges Kel’el Ware to buy in after Erik Spoelstra’s public challenge');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Dwyane-Wade-urges-Kelel-Ware-to-buy-in-after-Erik-Spoelstras-public-challenge.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Dwyane Wade urges Kel’el Ware to buy in after Erik Spoelstra’s public challenge</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-15T12:38:09-07:00">July 15th, 12:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-15T12:38:09-07:00">July 15th, 12:38pm</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Miami Heat legend and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade <a href="https://x.com/HeatCulture13/status/1945167544580518146" rel="noopener">offered strong words of advice</a> for second-year center Kel’el Ware following recent comments made by head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-responds-to-erik-spoelstra-putting-him-on-blast">Erik Spoelstra calling for greater professionalism and consistency</a> from the young big man.</p><p>Speaking on the latest episode of his show Wy Network, Wade emphasized the importance of trusting Spoelstra’s guidance and urged Ware to embrace the developmental process.</p><p>“He’s gotta buy in and that’s hard,” Wade said. “It’s hard at first, but if he just understands that if he buys in he’s going to be great. He’s going to be great, just buy into greatness.”</p><p>Wade pointed to Spoelstra’s résumé and credibility as one of the NBA’s most accomplished head coaches.</p><p>“Spo’s been around greats. He’s coached Hall of Famers. Spo been on the championships, he’s been in the fox hole,” Wade continued. “If you want to listen to anybody you listen to Spo. If young fella want to be great, buy in. Buy into what they selling.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dwyane Wade response on Coach Spo calling out Kelel Ware</p><p>“He’s coached Hall of Famers. Spo been on the championships, he’s been in the fox hole. If you want to listen to anybody you listen to Spo. If young fella want to be great, buy in. Buy into what they sellin”</p><p>(Via… <a href="https://t.co/BieSGVQScd">pic.twitter.com/BieSGVQScd</a></p><p>— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeatCulture13/status/1945167544580518146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Dwayne Wade backs Erik Spoelstra as Kel’el Ware responds with strong Summer League outing</b></h2><p>Wade’s comments come on the heels of Spoelstra’s candid assessment of Ware’s current trajectory earlier this week. Spoelstra noted that while Ware has made strides, the organization expects more rapid growth in key areas.</p><p>“The professionalism and consistency has to improve, and it is,” Spoelstra said Monday during <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/biggest-miami-heat-overreactions-from-2025-nba-summer-league">NBA 2K26 Summer League</a> action in Las Vegas. “Our standards are not going to change and our expectations of how fast we want that to improve for him are not going to change.”</p><p>Spoelstra emphasized Ware’s need to take ownership of his development, particularly in the weight room and with daily habits.</p><p>“He’s getting stronger and he is gaining weight. That’s a big part of his improvement — getting his body physically prepared and ready to handle the rigors of physical positioning,” Spoelstra added. “Then there’s the nuances of doing things defensively and playing stronger with more force offensively. We’re working on those things every single day.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-dunk-lakers-nba-summer-league">Ware, 21, was selected No. 15 overall by the Miami Heat</a> in the 2024 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game across 64 appearances, including 36 starts. He shot 55.4% from the field and 31.5% from three-point range.</p><p>Ware responded to Spoelstra’s public remarks with an impressive showing in the Heat’s 100-96 Summer League win over the Boston Celtics on Monday. He finished the game with 21 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block while shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in 33 minutes.</p><p>The Miami Heat (1-2) will continue their Summer League schedule with a matchup against the Detroit Pistons (2-0) on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET, airing on NBA TV.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dwyane Wade urges Kel’el Ware to buy in after Erik Spoelstra’s public challenge

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-responds-to-erik-spoelstra-putting-him-on-blast');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Kel’el Ware responds to Erik Spoelstra putting him on blast');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kelel-Ware-on-March-2-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Kel’el Ware responds to Erik Spoelstra putting him on blast</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-15T09:05:24-07:00">July 15th, 9:05am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-15T09:05:24-07:00">July 15th, 9:05am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Miami <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/biggest-miami-heat-overreactions-from-2025-nba-summer-league">Heat center Kel’el Ware delivered a dominant performance</a> in response to recent public comments by head coach Erik Spoelstra <a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/07/14/erik-spoelstra-not-buying-into-east-being-least-seeks-heat-introspection/" rel="noopener">questioning his professionalism and consistency</a>.</p><p>Ware posted 21 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 33 minutes during Miami’s 100-96 win over the Boston Celtics in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-insider-downplays-lebron-james-exit-rumors-summer-league-update">NBA 2K26 Summer League</a> on Monday night. He shot 8-of-15 from the field and knocked down all three of his three-point attempts.</p><p>Following the game, Ware addressed Spoelstra’s remarks, framing them as <a href="https://hoopshype.com/rumor/3755471/" rel="noopener">constructive criticism</a> that fueled his approach.</p><p>“I mean,” Ware said, “it all comes down to like Spo said, just putting in the effort, going out there and playing. That’s just what I wanted to show that I can do.”</p><p>“I just took it as motivation. Obviously, he’s the coach and he has that trust in me and he wants to see me be the best that I can be. So I took it as motivation.”</p><h2><b>Kel’el Ware answers Erik Spoelstra’s challenge with dominant Summer League performance</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kelel-Ware-on-March-12-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Miami Heat center Kel’el Ware (7) looks to pas the ball as LA Clippers forward Drew Eubanks (15) defends during the second half at Kaseya Center.</figcaption></figure><p>Earlier in the day, Spoelstra had outlined what he believes Ware <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1lyg5vw/coach_spoelstra_with_a_strong_statement_on_kelel/" rel="noopener">needs to focus on</a> entering his second NBA season.</p><p>“The professionalism and consistency has to improve, and it is,” Spoelstra said. “Our standards are not going to change and our expectations of how fast we want that to improve for him are not going to change.”</p><p>“He’s got to take ownership of it and the other stuff will come along with that. That leads into the weight room, professionalism, consistency, approach every single day. He’s getting stronger and he is gaining weight. That’s a big part of his improvement is getting his body physically prepared and ready to handle the rigors of physical positioning and then there’s nuances of doing things defensively and playing stronger with more force offensively. We’re working on those things every single day.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-dunk-lakers-nba-summer-league">Ware, 21, was selected by the Heat with the No. 15 overall pick</a> in the 2024 NBA Draft. In his rookie campaign, he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game across 64 appearances, including 36 starts. He shot 55.4% from the field and 31.5% from three.</p><p>Monday’s performance against Boston marked Ware’s strongest outing of the summer and showcased his potential as a modern stretch big with defensive upside.</p><p>The Heat improved to 1-2 in Summer League action and will next face the Detroit Pistons (2-0) on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET. The game will air on NBA TV.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Kel’el Ware responds to Erik Spoelstra putting him on blast

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-wares-advice-to-kasparas-jakucionis-after-rough-summer-league-games');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kel’el Ware’s advice to Kasparas Jakucionis after rough Heat Summer League games');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Kelel-Ware-on-Jan.-21-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Kel’el Ware’s advice to Kasparas Jakucionis after rough Heat Summer League games</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-07T15:01:37-07:00">July 7th, 3:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-07T15:01:37-07:00">July 7th, 3:01pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Though the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-trade-grade-for-norman-powell-deal-with-clippers-jazz">Miami Heat traded for Norman Powell</a> on Monday morning, the team is currently going through their NBA Summer League program. Two players featured on the team are the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kasparas-jakucionis-plan-revealed-for-summer-league">Heat’s first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis</a> and the 15th overall pick from the year prior Kel’el Ware.</p><p>As each is getting work in to prepare for the upcoming season, it’s no doubt been a frustrating start for the rookie in Jakucionis, as through two summer league games, including the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, he’s totaled seven points. Looking at the shooting numbers, he’s made one field goal out of 10 attempts from the field, missing all seven three-point shots.</p><p>However, one person who has given him advice is Ware, who was in the same position last year as a rookie entering Miami’s Summer League program, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article310085990.html" rel="noopener">emphasizing that this time is needed for progress</a>, according to The Miami Herald.</p><p>“I was speaking to him yesterday, because we walked back from the game, and I was just telling him, ‘Hey, you know, it’s summer league for a reason. You work on your stuff,’” Ware said of his message to Jakucionis. “I told him if you’re going to shoot, don’t think about it. You let it go, trust yourself.”</p><p>As for Ware, he has totaled 26 points through two games with 12 on Sunday against the Lakers to go along with three rebounds in 28 minutes.</p><p>“I’m just getting back into the flow of it,” Ware said. “It’s been a little while from game-time play. It’s about fitting into game-time situations.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware impressing during Summer League</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There’s no denying that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-breaks-silence-on-being-untouchable-in-kevin-durant-trade-talks">Heat see Ware as a near untouchable piece</a> as proven by Kevin Durant trade talks, and it could be easy to see why he’s coming off an impressive rookie season. While he didn’t start last season guns blazing due to limited playing time, he became Miami’s starting center for a majority of the second half of the season, leading to impressive performances, resulting in being honored on the NBA’s All-Rookie second team.</p><p>Besides the size he brings to Miami along with his presence at the rim, he showed off his improvement from deep as against Los Angeles, and <a href="https://x.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1941968304907939918" rel="noopener">had a step-back three-pointer</a> that impressed fans.</p><p>“I mean that’s something that showed up at the moment,” Ware said after the loss to Lakers about his step-back three. “But playing around in the gym, you just do certain things, so it’s something I’ve gotten used to doing. So it’s nothing brand new for me.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">that’s how you feel Kel’el?? <a href="https://t.co/gghKTKIVdq">pic.twitter.com/gghKTKIVdq</a></p><p>— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1941968304907939918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Ware would also have a spectacular dunk that would go viral, as it was another occasion to show the immense talent present in the Indiana product. Summer League head coach Eric Glass would say that Ware was “strong” in the contest, as the goal was to continue to show off his skills during this time period.</p><p>“Kel’el has had moments where he’s been strong and moments where we want some more from him, and we’ll continue to push him with that,” Glass said.</p><p>At any rate, Ware will look to improve and hopefully continue to help Jakucionis during his rookie season as the next Summer League game is against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kel’el Ware’s advice to Kasparas Jakucionis after rough Heat Summer League games

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-dunk-lakers-nba-summer-league');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kel’el Ware dunks all over Lakers big man during NBA Summer League');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_0027.jpeg"></figure><h1>Kel’el Ware dunks all over Lakers big man during NBA Summer League</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-06T16:30:45-07:00">July 6th, 4:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-06T16:30:45-07:00">July 6th, 4:30pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>NBA Summer League is a time for newly drafted players to showcase their talents, as well as the rookies of yesteryear to show what they’ve been working on in the offseason. There’s also room for highlight reel plays. During the Miami Heat’s summer league game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Kel’el Ware threw down an early contender for <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1941976793965347091" rel="noopener">dunk of the summer</a>.</p><p>The dunk from Kel’el Ware came during the Heat’s second summer league game at the California Classic. Heat guard Javonte Cooke made a move off the dribble when he saw Ware lurking near the basket. He threw a lob up to the Heat big man who caught the pass and dunked on Lakers center Trey Jemison. Although the Heat would lose that game, Ware finished with 12 points, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 28 minutes.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayos-kelel-ware-prediction-will-excite-miami-fans">Coming off a strong rookie season, Ware</a> is primed to play a key role for the Heat this upcoming season. In fact, he was reportedly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-breaks-silence-on-being-untouchable-in-kevin-durant-trade-talks">deemed untouchable in trade talks for Kevin Durant</a>. Ware was selected by the Heat with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He appeared in 64 games as a rookie, including 36 starts, at a little over 22 minutes per game.</p><p>Ware averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots with splits of 55.4 percent shooting from the field, 31.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 68.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team.</p><p>During his rookie season, he also played two games with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the G League affiliate of the Heat. During those two games, he put up 18.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists. 2.0 steals and 3.0 blocked shots while shooting 57.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the three-point line and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.</p><p>Looking at the Heat’s depth chart for next season, it’s possible Ware starts in the frontcourt alongside Bam Adebayo. Either that or he will certainly be the first big man off the bench.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kel’el Ware dunks all over Lakers big man during NBA Summer League

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-breaks-silence-on-being-untouchable-in-kevin-durant-trade-talks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Kel’el Ware breaks silence on being untouchable in Kevin Durant trade talks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Kel’el Ware breaks silence on being untouchable in Kevin Durant trade talks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-06T11:43:36-07:00">July 6th, 11:43am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-06T11:43:36-07:00">July 6th, 11:43am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kasparas-jakucionis-plan-revealed-for-summer-league">Heat amid the NBA Summer League</a>, there are still headlines about what the team will do after striking out on the sweepstakes to acquire star Kevin Durant, as he is now with the Houston Rockets. As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-rumors-what-miami-is-missing-in-kevin-durant-trade-proposal">rumors continue to swirl around the Heat</a> and why the team didn’t obtain Durant, one part surrounds Kel’el Ware, the first-round pick from the 2024 NBA Draft.</p><p>Many reports cited Ware as being a piece that the team didn’t want to part with to get Durant. Meaning, the team sees immense potential in Ware who had an impressive rookie season and looks to grow in his second year.</p><p>There’s no doubt that Ware was cognizant of the news and upon hearing his involvement, he would say that it made him feel <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article309970385.html" rel="noopener">“wanted”</a> by and wanted to “repay” them by proving them right, according to The Miami Herald.</p><p>“It made me feel the Heat wanted me and they want to see how far I can get in the future and see how my development goes,” Ware said before Saturday’s Summer League opening win over the San Antonio Spurs. “That makes me want to show them what I can do and how far I can go. They see the potential in me and they see what I can be. So my main goal is to just sort of repay that they didn’t make a mistake.”</p><p>“I didn’t really see too much of it,” Ware said in regards to the trade rumors. “It was one of the things I was like if it happens, it happens. If not, it doesn’t. You got to think the Heat didn’t want to give me up, but that means the other team wanted me. I didn’t really pay no mind to it.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware on what he wants to show this offseason</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-rumors-miami-interested-damian-lillard-bradley-beal-buyout-market">Heat has reported interest in other stars such as Damian Lillard</a> or Bradley Beal, the team is going through a form of a youth movement as, besides the featured duo of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, players are looking to develop significantly. Ware is the main piece of that after a strong season, giving the team much-needed size while being exceptionally athletic and having some offensive versatility.</p><p>Besides players like Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., the new first-round pick in Kasparas Jakucionis, and others, Ware is looking to elevate in year two, as he spoke about what he wants to show this summer and how it involves the weight room.</p><p>“My goals for the offseason and in the summer league is to show that I added more to my game, that I’ve gotten strong in the weight room,” Ware said. “Just showing that I can be a force out there and be dominant.”</p><p>Ware would say that the team wants him to hit 250 pounds, as getting bigger and stronger had been a focal point right when Miami drafted him. While he didn’t play much in the first half besides some spurts, he showed out in the second, becoming a mainstay starting center.</p><p>He would make the NBA’s All-Rookie second team and looks to make a bigger impact in his second season. He is currently with the Summer League team as they next play on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Kel’el Ware breaks silence on being untouchable in Kevin Durant trade talks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayos-kelel-ware-prediction-will-excite-miami-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bam Adebayo’s Kel’el Ware prediction will excite Heat fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-March-31-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Bam Adebayo’s Kel’el Ware prediction will excite Heat fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-05-01T21:10:28-07:00">May 1st, 9:10pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-05-01T21:10:28-07:00">May 1st, 9:10pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-gets-brutally-honest-on-season-with-more-lows-after-cavs-sweep">Miami Heat season ended with a sweep</a> by the Cleveland Cavaliers, there could be some who are looking on the bright side of what ultimately was a disappointing season for the team. One positive was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-explains-pulling-kelel-ware-early-from-55-point-loss">Heat rookie Kel’el Ware</a>, who showed his immense talent throughout the year, which garnered an eye-opening reaction from star Bam Adebayo.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Bam Adebayo expects Kel’el Ware to be a “great player”</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-pat-riley-explains-bam-adebayo-reasoning-by-keel-ware-draft-pick">Ware was selected with the Heat’s 15th overall pick</a> in the 2024 NBA Draft, it filled a big need for Miami, which was adding size to the team as he stands seven feet tall while not sacrificing athleticism. After sitting out the beginning of the season, he started to gain more playing time as the year went on, eventually becoming the mainstay at center in the starting lineup alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt.</p><p>Adebayo would express to ClutchPoints during Wednesday’s exit interviews about the expectations he has for Ware, which are not only being a <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917660982177825129" rel="noopener">“great player”</a> in the NBA, but also being “in contention” for the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award.</p><p>“Man, I seen a kid that, Spo didn’t play him in the beginning, and we was begging him to play because we felt like he was a talent,” Adebayo said. “At some point, he got his chance, and he impacted winning. So I’m proud of him. Obviously, he’s gonna keep developing. He’s gonna keep growing, he’s gonna keep wanting to be his best version of himself, and we expect him to do that. So, you know, seeing what I’ve seen outside, not only out on that court, but also in the locker room, how he’s a great teammate.”</p><p>You know he’s willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. I think he can be a great player in this league,” Adebayo continued. “He’s one we will be constantly be talking about every year, he could be in contention for DPOY. Judging because y’all seen it, at some point he’ll think a guy gotta lay up, and then it’s four rows in the stands. So, understand that he does have a talent, and he can showcase it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Bam Adebayo about Kel’el Ware’s rookie season and what he thought of it.</p><p>“I seen a kid that, Spo didn’t play him and the beginning but we was begging him to play…I’m proud of him…I said it before I think he can be a great player in this league…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/229sqYhQiN">pic.twitter.com/229sqYhQiN</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917660982177825129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware examines his rookie season</b></h2><p>Besides the impressive rookie season, which no doubt will earn him a spot on an All-Rookie team, there’s no doubt been rough patches, especially when <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-gaining-invaluable-playoff-experience-despite-cavs-thrashing">Ware struggled during the Heat’s playoff series</a> against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The opponents took advantage of the inexperience of Ware, pounding the paint and finding easy advantages.</p><p>Still, it shouldn’t take away from his regular season, where he would be a double-double machine, sporting a nice touch towards the rim on offense, and being a presence in the paint. He would even show off his ability to shoot from three-point range, as the sky seems to be the limit for the Indiana University product.</p><p>Ware would say to ClutchPoints on Wednesday that he believes there’s been<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917655659996205526" rel="noopener"> improvement seen throughout the season.</a></p><p>“I feel like I got better,” Ware said. “Of course when I wasn’t playing at first, every day, working out every day, and when my time came, it came.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Kel’el Ware about his thoughts on his rookie season now in the books.</p><p>“I feel like I got better. Of course when I wasn’t playing at first, every day, working out every day and when my time, it came…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/beYFiOaL3g">pic.twitter.com/beYFiOaL3g</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917655659996205526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>What has been an area of growth doesn’t necessarily fully involve his play on the court, which is his ability to get stronger, as he mentioned that being a focus for this offseason.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware and the duo with Bam Adebayo</b></h2><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/heat-news-bam-adebayo-reveals-desires-for-kelel-ware-duo">Heat duo of Ware and Adebayo</a> is one that was highly anticipated ever since the former was drafted, since the team’s captain had been the starting center for a while. With Adebayo coming out of college as a natural power forward, the Ware pick provided an opportunity to revert him to start games.</p><p>What resulted was high-energy play between the two, which made head coach Erik Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917646201538723883" rel="noopener">“encouraged”</a> to see when speaking about the minutes they had together.</p><p>“Well, I was encouraged with the minutes that they had and the progress that they made,” Spoelstra said Wednesday. “And they found a way to complement each other and heighten each other’s strengths. And this will be, obviously, a really important summer for Kel’el. The last six, eight weeks were really important for him, just to heighten pressure and expectations of us driving to get into the playoffs, and the two play-in games, and then all the learning lessons from these four games.”</p><p>“I went back and looked at it yesterday. There’s just not a lot of guys from this draft class that played in the playoffs,” Spoelstra continued. “These are tough lessons, as they usually are in a playoff setting if you’re not advancing, it’s usually a tough lesson. And I’m grateful that Kel’el was able to get all of these experiences and set up for a really important summer.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware playing together and about the rookie’s first season.</p><p>“Well I was encouraged with the minutes that they had…this will be a really important summers this last six, eight weeks was really important for [Ware]…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/bbURz7UUxf">pic.twitter.com/bbURz7UUxf</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917646201538723883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Ware looks to have a strong and improved second season, seemingly becoming a foundation piece for Miami.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bam Adebayo’s Kel’el Ware prediction will excite Heat fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-explains-pulling-kelel-ware-early-from-55-point-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra explains pulling Kel’el Ware early from 55-point loss');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025-1.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra explains pulling Kel’el Ware early from 55-point loss</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-29T15:27:46-07:00">April 29th, 3:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-29T15:27:46-07:00">April 29th, 3:27pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-gets-brutally-honest-on-season-with-more-lows-after-cavs-sweep">Miami Heat got dreadfully swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers</a>, one aspect of the contest that was frustrating was another forgettable performance from rookie Kel’el Ware. While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-gaining-invaluable-playoff-experience-despite-cavs-thrashing">rough outings from the Heat center are invaluable</a>, as said by head coach Erik Spoelstra, he further explains the usage of Ware after the 55-point loss on Monday night.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware learning “fundamental lessons”</b></h2><p>Ware would once again start the game as he’s been a mainstay for the majority of the second half of the season, but would only play the first two minutes and 43 seconds of the first quarter before being pulled from the contest. He would once again be attacked early on by veteran Cleveland center Jarrett Allen, who had 10 points in the opening period.</p><p>He wouldn’t return until the last 35 seconds of the third quarter, where the game was already well out of hand as Miami was down 46 points at 106-60. Spoelstra would express after the game that “these are fundamental lessons” that Ware is learning, saying it’s not an <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917058880367939589" rel="noopener">“indictment”</a> on him, as he also explained the matchup against a seasoned player like Allen.</p><p>“It’s not necessarily an indictment on one player, these are fundamental lessons. The thing I like about Kel’el is he has a coachability to him. He has an ambition to him, you know, he’s going into a playoff series where, yes, he’s watched games, and he’s watched all the film, but he hasn’t like really been in something to really know.”</p><p>“Against a very experienced center, he’s been in 21 playoff games, or whatever, Allen, but like I said, he’s played 500 more games, but all these little lessons…all the little nuances that happened in the playoff series. It’s different than the regular season, and until you go through it, you don’t really understand. I wish this could have been more games, because I want more experience, more lessons, all that stuff.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on pulling Kel’el Ware out early.</p><p>“It’s not necessarily an indictment on one player, but these are fundamental lessons…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/BugKyjnTIz">pic.twitter.com/BugKyjnTIz</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1917058880367939589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Rough patches in playoffs for Heat’s Kel’el Ware are “invaluable”</b></h2><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-fans-react-kelel-ware-block-party-monster-1st-half-vs-knicks">Heat’s young star in Ware has been very impressive</a> for the team in his rookie season as he was the 15th overall pick coming out of Indiana University. Spoelstra spoke before the game and mentioned how the rough patches in the postseason are <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916973842817261788" rel="noopener">“invaluable.”</a></p><p>“When you get in a playoff series, you hear that cliche, ‘Every possession matters, every detail matters, every effort matters.’ This is invaluable,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “Just like the two play-in games were for him, he can see and he can feel how everything just goes to a different level. And there’s no way to get that experience unless you go through it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra what Kel’el Ware can learn from the postseason whether it’s the physical or mental nature.</p><p>“It’s all of the above…this is invaluable, just like the two play-in games were for him, he can see, feel how everything goes to a different level…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/cHzawwt7dI">pic.twitter.com/cHzawwt7dI</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916973842817261788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Ware had been averaging 18.3 minutes in the first-round series as his role on Miami will no doubt grow larger.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra explains pulling Kel’el Ware early from 55-point loss

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-gaining-invaluable-playoff-experience-despite-cavs-thrashing');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Kel’el Ware gaining ‘invaluable’ playoff experience despite Cavs thrashing');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat’s Kel’el Ware gaining ‘invaluable’ playoff experience despite Cavs thrashing</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-28T15:34:18-07:00">April 28th, 3:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-28T15:34:18-07:00">April 28th, 3:34pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-andrew-wiggins-defiant-take-with-miami-on-brink-of-playoff-elimination">Miami Heat are on the brink of playoff elimination</a> by the Cleveland Cavaliers heading into Game 4 on Monday night, where the team is at a 0-3 deficit, there could be a potential silver lining to the disappointing series. With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-rookie-flounders-as-hes-fed-through-fire-hose-in-playoff-debut">Heat rookie Kel’el Ware going through his first postseason experience</a>, the bumps in the road could lead to an even brighter future, as touched on by head coach Erik Spoelstra.</p><p>Before Game 4 on Monday night, Spoelstra spoke pre-game about Ware’s continued progression, as it’s been an impressive season for the 21-year-old. The head coach has said before that Ware is getting crucial reps during the most meaningful basketball played all season, <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916973842817261788" rel="noopener">but was specifically asked</a> if it’s more on the physical nature of the playoffs or his mental approach.</p><p>“It’s all the above,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “When you get in a playoff series, you hear that cliche, ‘Every possession matters, every detail matters, every effort matters.’ This is invaluable, just like the two play-in games were for him; he can see and he can feel how everything just goes to a different level. And there’s no way to get that experience unless you go through it. So yesterday’s film session, practice, you know, it’s just in addition to everything else we’ve been doing since the play-in.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra what Kel’el Ware can learn from the postseason whether it’s the physical or mental nature.</p><p>“It’s all of the above…this is invaluable, just like the two play-in games were for him, he can see, feel how everything goes to a different level…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/cHzawwt7dI">pic.twitter.com/cHzawwt7dI</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916973842817261788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Ware has been a mainstay in Miami’s starting lineup, highlighting the frontcourt next to team captain Bam Adebayo, where he has shown major promise on the glass, even on the offensive side of the floor in the paint, and even being a threat from deep. However, Cleveland has taken advantage of the Indiana University product’s inexperience with bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley having a productive series.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware is going through “important learning experiences”</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Kelel-Ware-on-April-26-2025.1.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Looking at the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayos-embarrassing-admission-after-miamis-worst-playoff-loss-in-history">Heat’s Game 3 loss where they suffered the most lopsided</a> playoff defeat in franchise history, Ware would only play 19 minutes as he scored eight points and collected five rebounds. Not playing a bulk of time as he did towards the second half of the regular season, where he found his footing, Spoelstra spoke about how these outings in the postseason are <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916229594081808856" rel="noopener">“important learning experiences.”</a></p><p>“It’s not only this game. It’s the two games before this, it’s the two play-ins, we’re also dependent on his minutes, how many minutes those may be,” Spoelstra said after Game 3. “I understand, he’s being fed through a firehose. Then he just arrived here in July, but you still inherit all of our experiences from the expectations of previous playoffs of last year, he cares. We’re coaching him hard and I feel for him, because there’s an expectation that he has to be there like a vet.”</p><p>“These are important learning experiences,” Spoelstra continued. “You know, he’s getting better from it, because, if he’s not like at the highest level, whether it’s effort, awareness, a communication standpoint, in the playoffs, you pay the price on that, you know. So he cares, and he’ll go right back to work tomorrow. You know, that’s the thing that I respect about Kel’el.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on how beneficial a game like this could be for Kel’el Ware.</p><p>“These are important learning experiences…”</p><p>Full response: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/IhVcWOJHou">pic.twitter.com/IhVcWOJHou</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1916229594081808856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Overall, the seven-foot young star has averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from beyond the arc. Taken with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Ware’s talent is undeniable as he looks to be a foundation piece for the Heat’s future.</p><p>Despite the team being on the cusp of a potential sweep, Ware’s continued learning on the biggest stage could be beneficial for the future.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Kel’el Ware gaining ‘invaluable’ playoff experience despite Cavs thrashing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-kelel-ware-rolling-with-the-punches-during-cold-streak');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Kel’el Ware ‘rolling with the punches’ during cold streak');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kelel-Ware-rolling-with-the-punches-during-cold-streak.jpg"></figure><h1>Heat’s Kel’el Ware ‘rolling with the punches’ during cold streak</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-13T15:35:20-07:00">March 13th, 3:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-13T15:35:20-07:00">March 13th, 3:35pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Miami Heat</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>MIAMI – While one <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-meet-miamis-new-sparkplug-earning-dazzling-reviews-from-tyler-herro-erik-spoelstra">Miami Heat rookie has served as a sparkplug</a> for the team in Pelle Larsson, the team’s first-round pick Kel’el Ware is currently amid a few rough outings. This was on display in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-tyler-herro-drops-stunning-spirit-admission-amid-loss-to-clippers">Heat’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers</a> on Wednesday as he spoke about the learning process or overcoming his current shortcomings.</p><p>Looking at the season overall, Ware has been impressive in his rookie season as he’s currently a mainstay in the starting lineup, standing alongside Bam Adebayo in the front court. However, in back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets’ Mark Williams and Clippers’ Ivica Zubac, he was taken advantage of his inexperience.</p><p>Williams had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Zubac finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds as Ware struggled in protecting the paint against the named bigs defensively and earning his points offensively. It’s led to sporadic playing time late and even Haywood Highsmith starting in his place in the second half on Wednesday as Ware has a clear mindset.</p><p>“I’m just rolling with the punches,” Ware said after the loss to Los Angeles, which is Miami’s fifth straight.</p><p>“Those are guys who have been in the league for a minute and I’m still learning through it,” Ware continued about the opposing performances from Williams and Zubac. “So I don’t really think it’s tough. I just think it’s more of a lesson to learn, look back on it and get better next year.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on how Kel’el Ware can learn from the down outings</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kelel-Ware-on-March-12-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Miami Heat center Kel’el Ware (7) looks to pass the ball as LA Clippers forward Drew Eubanks (15) defends during the second half at Kaseya Center.</figcaption></figure><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/celtics-vs-heat-prediction-odds-pick-spread-3-14-2025">Heat looking to face the Boston Celtics next</a>, Spoelstra is looking for any way to succeed in terms of rotations and <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1900022780252307854" rel="noopener">explained the decision</a> to not start Ware in the second half.</p><p>“It just didn’t look right against this team, to start two bigs,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not necessarily an indictment on Kel’el. But we weren’t able to take advantage of it. We’ve been working on these things. So we didn’t go that way in the second half. There were stretches that looked OK. But Zubac kind of had his way there in the paint.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra speaks on starting Haywood Highsmith in the second half over Kel’el Ware.</p><p>“It didn’t look right against this team to start two bigs. Not necessarily an indictment…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/9ra7vgNvT3">pic.twitter.com/9ra7vgNvT3</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1900022780252307854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>When examining how recent opposing bigs have been playing Ware, while the numbers aren’t pretty, Spoelstra would see the bright side in stressing <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1900025115007389979" rel="noopener">how crucial it is to learn from the mistakes</a> and apply them over time.</p><p>“He can definitely see the physicality, the girth and he’s gained a lot of strength in the weight room,” Spoelstra said. “But now there’s also functional strength, technique and really competing against guys that are trying to take advantage of that post opportunity or catches in the paint. That’s happened now a few times.</p><p>“The size, the strength, all that, we need that right now from him,” Spoelstra continued. “And he’s learning everything from a fire hose, but this is actually the best way to learn is when there’s consequences to everything because everything becomes so much more magnified.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware learning from these last two tough outings.</p><p>“The size, the strength, all that, we need that right now from him and he’s learning everything from a firehouse but this is actually the best way to learn is when there’s consequences…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/5FZXxw8AyI">pic.twitter.com/5FZXxw8AyI</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1900025115007389979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Kel’el Ware confident he’s “progressing every game”</b></h2><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-hints-at-miamis-fearful-nature-amid-losing-skid">Heat looks to get back its fearless nature</a>, Ware wants to get back to how he played earlier in the season, when he originally started, he was a huge presence on either side of the ball. Still, the late-game minutes have been up and down as the rookie would deny that it’s a trust issue since he plays a good portion of the game as he’ll focus more on getting better.</p><p>“I don’t know if it’s the trust factor because I play the first three quarters,” Ware said of his recent sporadic late-game usage. “So I don’t know if it’s a trust factor [with Spoelstra]. I just feel like it’s just the lineup that he wants to go with in the fourth quarter, I feel like that’s really it, I don’t think it’s much of a trust factor. They haven’t really said anything to me. That’s why I feel like it’s not much of a trust thing.”</p><p>“I feel like I’m progressing every game, every practice,” Ware continued. “Just trying to get better. Of course, this season isn’t going how we all hoped it would go. But I’m still treating every day like I want to get better and I want to progress because I know my second year is going to come around quickly. So I just want to be prepared for that.”</p><p>At any rate, Ware hopes to contribute to winning basketball and turn around the season as before Friday’s contest against the Boston Celtics, the team is 29-36 which puts them ninth in the East.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
10.3	7.0	0.3	0.7	1.0

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
10.3	7.0	0.3	0.7	1.0

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