After a solid start to the 2025-26 NBA campaign, Kel’el Ware has seen his playing time dwindle with the Miami Heat in the past few games. He only logged nine minutes in the team’s 119-114 home loss against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, producing only three points and five rebounds on 1-for-5 shooting.
During the postgame press conference, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed Ware’s second-half benching last night by offering a blunt assessment on the 21-year-old.
“I get it with young players — you sometimes subconsciously play poorly to say, ‘Hey, I’ll play poorly until you give me the minutes I think I deserve,” Spoelstra said of Ware. “That’s not how this works.”
“With Kel’el, I know that’s a lightning rod topic. He needs to get back to where he was seven or eight weeks ago, where I felt, and everybody in the building felt, he was stacking good days. He’s stacking days in the wrong direction now. Make sure you’re ready and play the minutes you’re playing to the point I want to play you more,” he continued.
Miami Heat News: Bam Adebayo offers piece of advice to Kel’el Ware amid declining playing time
Bam Adebayo knows a thing or two about not being on the best of terms with Erik Spoelstra, and the Miami Heat center sent a timely message to Kel’el Ware during the postgame press conference.
“Don’t let stuff like this be the motivation. Discipline every day is what beats motivation. You can be motivated for 2-3 games, then go on a run and be up and down. Discipline makes you consistent. My message to him is be as consistent as possible,” Adebayo stated.
“We’re better than what our record says, but until we all commit to doing role players things, we’ll keep being middle of the pack and mediocre. Until guys get sick of being 7th and 8th and not want to make the push for 4th or 3rd in the East, we’re gonna stay right here,” he continued.
