Miami’s coaching staff continues to search for more consistency from second-year big man Kel’el Ware, whose uneven play has become a point of frustration.
Ware did not see the floor in the second half of Thursday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, and head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed the situation afterward, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Spoelstra pointed to matchup challenges but stressed that readiness and daily habits are the real issue.
“It was a tough matchup for him in Boston with all the coverages, and the same thing (Thursday),” Spoelstra said. “He just has to stay ready. Look, with Kel’el, I know that’s a lightning-rod topic. He needs to get back to where he was eight weeks ago, seven weeks ago, where I felt and everybody in the building felt, he was stacking days, good days.
“He’s stacking days in the wrong direction now. He’s just got to get back to that. Stack days, build those habits, make sure you’re ready and play the minutes that you’re playing to a point where it makes me want to play you more.”
Former Heat veteran Udonis Haslem echoed that message during a Prime Video appearance, emphasizing that earning trust is the key to securing consistent minutes.
“Put them in a position to earn their money,” Haslem said. “Put them in a position to say, ‘He is one of our top seven or right guys, he should be playing. Let me figure out ways to get him more minutes because he deserves those minutes.’
“I understand your minutes are going to fluctuate based on the situation with coaches. There is nothing you can do about it. But what you can do is every time you step out on the basketball court, make sure your minutes are impactful, make sure your minutes are positive.”
Heat Notes: Ware, Haslem, Midway Point, Grades, Powell, Wiggins https://t.co/bcxziB8tcT pic.twitter.com/IHmjvFms2k
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) January 17, 2026
