Heat big Kel'el Ware had perfect response to criticism from coach Erik Spoelstra

Miami Heat big man Kel'el Ware was recently criticized by two-time NBA champion head coach Erik Spoelstra, which drew some deserved attention.

Ware, who was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, had a standout rookie campaign down the stretch for the Heat. He averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting moderately well for a big man.

Perhaps most important, per PBPStats, is that Miami played better when Ware shared the court with center Bam Adebayo compared to when Adebayo played without him. This suggests Miami have found an ideal frontcourt pairing of the future, especially if Ware can continue to improve his jumper.

According to Spoelstra, however, there was still plenty of room for improvement.

Spo makes it clear that Kel'el Ware needs to improve his "professionalism." How he approaches every day, playing with force, what he does in the gym, etc.

Strong and purposeful statement from Spo. Here's a clip: pic.twitter.com/y2t1TgeN5f— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) July 12, 2025

Spoelstra noted that he still expects to see more "professionalism" and consistency from Ware to meet Miami's standards.

The coach also mentioned the "approach" that Ware has for the game of basketball so he is as prepared as possible for the NBA and become a professional.

Ware was 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from the field during his first game of summer league basketball for the Heat, and in the next game, he had just 3 rebounds while shooting 4-of-10 (40.0 percent) in the game.

Kel'el Ware looks primed for Year 2 🔥

17 PTS (7-10 FG), 6 REB and 2 BLK for the @MiamiHEAT big man in the first half! pic.twitter.com/TW55okQ8HB— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 14, 2025

During his next appearance in NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas, we saw one of the best showings yet from Ware.

He had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in just the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Accountability from Kel’el Ware pic.twitter.com/K3MgkLswnX— Breeze (@6breeze_) July 14, 2025

During an in-game interview, he said that playing with "effort" is something he had not done in his previous few games.

But he planned on doing that for the next games he was going to play for Miami.

Kelel Ware on Coach Spo calling out his professionalism

“I took it as motivation. You know 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”

(Via @MiamiHEAT) pic.twitter.com/pvLqnI3imB— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) July 14, 2025

After the game, the big man said that he took the comments from his coach as "motivation" and that he knows Spoelstra wants to see the best version of him.

Ware said that fans can expect to see that type of energy from him all of the time moving forward. It seems like Spoelstra knew exactly what he was doing by calling Ware out so publicly.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Heat big Kel'el Ware had perfect response to criticism from coach Erik Spoelstra