Miami Heat youngster Kel’el Ware is one of the more talented youthful big men in the NBA today, and he’s on the heels of a highly encouraging rookie campaign.
However, he’s not without his flaws, as head coach Erik Spoelstra recently went on record as saying his “professionalism” needs to improve moving forward. According to Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick, the Ware situation has been “building for a while” as well.
With professionalism concerns surrounding Ware a trending topic as of late, Heat legend Dwyane Wade gave some advice to the 21-year-old.
Dwyane Wade response on Coach Spo calling out Kelel Ware
“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”
(Via… pic.twitter.com/BieSGVQScd
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Encouragingly, not long after Spoelstra had some harsh comments about Ware’s professionalism, he went out and dominated on both sides of the ball in Summer League games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.
Against the Cavs, he had 21 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and one steal. He then followed that up by dropping 21 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals against the Celtics.
The sky might just be the limit for him in the coming season now that he has a year of NBA experience under his belt. Averaging a double-double and earning an All-Defense nod both appear to be very realistic goals for Ware in his second season in the big leagues.
Up to this point, the Heat’s decision to draft Ware with the first non-lottery pick of the 2024 NBA Draft has aged quite well, even when factoring in any concerns about his professionalism. He played as well as almost anyone in his draft class last season and is on track to be remembered as one of the biggest steals of that entire draft.
With any luck, Ware will put any concerns about his professionalism to rest in the coming season and put together his best NBA campaign to date. The Heat are going to need him to continue evolving and growing if they want him to become a main piece of a possible championship puzzle in the future.
