Kel’el Ware is quickly developing into one of the best young big men in the NBA in his second season with the Miami Heat.
The Heat drafted Ware with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and he averaged nine points and seven rebounds as a rookie.
This season, the 21-year-old is contributing 12 points and 11 rebounds, proving to be an integral part of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation.
Ware obviously deserves the bulk of the credit for his development, but teammate Bam Adebayo’s advice has also played a role.
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Bam Adebayo has helped Kel’el Ware’s development this season
Ware did not fall short of expectations in his rookie year, but Adebayo was convinced that he could be a lot better with the right advice.
So, the five-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection gave Ware some tough love throughout the offseason, as he wanted him to realize his potential.
“I was hard on him in the summer. I was very hard on Kel’el because we know what he can do,” Adebayo revealed on The Old Man and The Three. “Obviously, people see the 20 and 18, and all that, but for me, it was like, ‘Just bring energy every day.’
Mock trade sends Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami
- Miami Heat receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
- Milwaukee Bucks receive: Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Terry Rozier, 2029 and 2031 first-round picks
“My advice was: It’s not always going to be 20 and 15. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t find you for whatever reason. And we play a system where you can’t hunt it because it looks bad. If he just brings the right energy every game, it’s impactful.
“It might not be 20 and 15, it might be 10 and 10, with three blocks, but those three blocks could have been the key three blocks to start a 15-2 run for us. That’s the type of mindset that I wanted him to get, and he’s figured it out.
“We bank on Kel’el getting at least two or three offensive rebounds from pure athleticism and a random bounce. That was my advice to him. Just impact winning. It might not show up on the stat sheet, but we in the locker room will know how impactful you were.”
Adebayo knows exactly what it is like to develop from a bench player into an All-Star, so Ware could not have a better mentor to learn from.
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Bam Adebayo notices Kel’el Ware’s improved mental toughness
It’s one thing to receive advice, but another to act upon it. That’s why Ware deserves a great deal of credit for his second-season improvement.
Adebayo admitted that the biggest part of Ware’s development is that he is now demonstrating the “mental toughness” synonymous with ‘Heat culture’.
“That mental aspect… his hurdle this summer was getting that mental toughness because you’ll see Kel’el miss two shots and he’ll start looking at the ground, and then it affects everything else,” Adebayo added.
“Him now being able to miss a shot or a rebound doesn’t affect the other end now. I feel like the mental aspect is one of the key components to being taught basketball.”
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