While Miami Heat rookie Kel’el Ware still waits for consistent minutes at the professional level, he continues to receive major endorsements within the team, such as head coach Erik Spoelstra. Before the Heat take on the Dallas Mavericks Sunday evening, veteran star Kevin Love spoke highly of Ware after the conclusion of Saturday’s practice.
Heat’s Kevin Love on Kel’el Ware’s lack of minutes
Love has been tasked by the team to not just be a crucial part of the team’s second unit, even at 36 years old, but also be a mentor to younger players, especially fellow big-men such as the rookie Ware. Subsequently, Love would say to ClutchPoints that Ware is, in fact, “taking strides” and reinforced Spoelstra’s comments from Thursday that even though the playing time is sparse, it doesn’t mean that there are setbacks.
“For sure,” Love said when asked if it’s easy to balance his production on the court and be a veteran presence on the team. “And it’s all of us, all the bigs have been working with Kel’el a lot. He was awesome in practice this week. So he’s taking strides, really, in the right direction. I think I overheard Spo saying him not playing or not getting the reps or the minutes right now in the game isn’t a direct reflection of how good he’s been. He’s continued to work, continue to fight, and that goes all the way throughout the lineup.”
“So it’s not just me, it’s not just Bam [Adebayo], it’s everybody putting their best foot forward to just help each other and try to better communicate,” Love continued. “That’s something working on right now. You can hear a great team, so we just need to continue to communicate. But it was a very productive week for all of us.”
There is no doubt that fans have been clamoring to see Ware get more minutes on the Heat, especially since they got a taste of it on Nov. 6 against the Phoenix Suns, where he logged 14 minutes and even acted as the backup for Bam Adebayo.
Heat’s Kevin Love on the “patience” of Kel’el Ware
However, the minutes have drastically gone down, but in a conversation with ClutchPoints Thursday, he understands that he is developing in his first season in the league. Love would cite that “patience” is an important trait to have during this time as he knows firsthand of the development of Ware, even mentioning how he wants the Indiana University product to use his seven-foot frame to his advantage.
“I think it’s just patience,” Love said. “He’s really fit in with us well because he just continues to work hard. He listens to every single one of us. He wants to apply things that are taught to him, both on and off the floor. With me, that can get a little bit messy away from the floor, but he’s really just continued to chase the game, and you can tell from practice practice. We sometimes just put him on defense and have him guard the rim and just try to block every shot, we don’t care if it’s a goal tend, we don’t care he smacks the ball into the fifth row.”
“That’s something that you know we’re talking about with Patrick Ewing and what he used to do with Georgetown,” Love continued. “Just first four or five shots, he didn’t give a shit, he just smacked that shit into the third or fifth row, and that’s what we want to see from him. He’s a guy that can really do that, and even with these bigs tomorrow, maybe not so much Gafford, but Lively, when you see that in him, he’s only going to continue to get better. I mean, he’s still so young, but I think his temperament and who he is as a person is really helpful.”
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Heat’s Kel’el Ware on sidelines as other rookies stand out
At any rate, fans have been even more cranky with the lack of playing time, especially when they see other rookies thrive. These include Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain and Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht lighting up the league as both were taken after Ware.
As Love would say about Ware, fans will need to be patient as some players explode onto the scene on their own time. Miami faces Dallas on Sunday as they are 6-7, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference as the Heat hope to have Jimmy Butler available.
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