Kel’el Ware has been a subject of criticism by Erik Spoelstra since the pre-season and the Miami Heat coach just won’t stop. He made another round of criticisms towards the sophomore center after their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ware was benched in the fourth quarter and Spoelstra reasoned that he felt like the player was deliberately playing bad due to minutes issues.
“I get it with some young players: sometimes you subconsciously play poorly to say ‘Hey I’ll play poorly until you play me the minutes I think I deserve, then I’ll play well,'” he said. “That’s not how it works.”
Coach Spo on Kel’el Ware not playing in 2nd half:
“With Kel’el i know thats a lightning rod topic. He needs to get back where he was 7/8 weeks ago where i felt he was stacking good days. He’s stacking days in the wrong direction now” pic.twitter.com/hvsugUK5Y6
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 16, 2026
Ware finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds in that game. He hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in the last five games after regularly getting above 25 minutes of play time.
The young player thought it was a crazy comment from his coach.
“I think it’s crazy but I mean, it’s his comments,” he said, via Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “I’ve kind of learned to control what you can control. It is what it is.
“If I didn’t play the second half, that was his decision he felt he needed to make.”
Spo clarifies Kel’el Ware comment
Even Heat fans thought Spoelstra’s comment about Ware’s attitude was uncalled for. The coach is now changing his tune and clarified that it was not how he meant to say those things.
“I didn’t articulate that in a good way and that wasn’t fair to Kel’el,” he said as quote by reporter Brady Hawk.
“I’m fully invested about the opportunity to develop Kel’el…We’re gonna give him everything we have to become the player he can become.”
Ware has played in every Heat game so far, averaging 11.5 points and 9.9 rebounds.
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