Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra recently had some strong and direct words for Heat big man Kel’el Ware when speaking to the media. He made it clear that Ware’s professionalism needs to improve as he heads into his second season in the NBA.

Erik Spoelstra just spent 20 minutes with us in Las Vegas, speaking more candidly than usual about the team.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard him speak of a player needing to improve “professionalism” like he just did about Kel’el Ware.

Video up soon. pic.twitter.com/zfkR5XirGD

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Spoelstra’s comments maybe came out of the blue to some people, but according to Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick, this is a situation that has been “building for a while.”

“I’m still trying to find out if there was a flashpoint with Ware beyond his listless play in the last game,” Skolnick wrote via Discord. “But I do know this has been building for a while.”

Miami’s leader from the sidelines talked about Ware’s professionalism after the big man had a forgettable performance in the Heat’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks on July 11 in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Ware finished with just 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds. For perspective, Ware averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game against superior competition in his maiden NBA season.

The recent developments with Ware call into question why the team wasn’t more willing to include him in trade talks for forward Kevin Durant, who ended up getting moved to the Houston Rockets earlier this offseason.

The Heat were reportedly reluctant to include Ware in any deal for the scoring machine and two-time NBA champion, and Ware claimed that he’s ready to show how far he can go with the team after he was left out of trade talks.

Granted, Miami still acquired a premier offensive player this summer when the team traded for guard Norman Powell, but he’s not the proven scorer or winner that Durant has been in his career.

Miami’s decision to hold onto Ware and refuse to give him up in a deal for Durant could still end up aging well for the Heat, even with the drama surrounding him of late.

After all, he showed immense promise as a rookie last season, and his impressive two-way play led to him finishing with the sixth-most votes for the Rookie of the Year award.

It’s possible he would have ended up with even more votes for the hardware if Miami turned to him more often to start the season, as he spent much of the early part of the 2024-25 season on the bench.