Kel’el Ware Joins Heat Legends In Huge NBA Achievement.
The Miami Heat have always prided themselves on creating a culture that raises players from the ground up. So, it comes as no surprise that Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra have done wonders in uplifting the skills of their players immediately after getting selected in the NBA Draft. Kel’el Ware was the latest testament to this.
Kel’el Ware has been named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. The Heat rookie shared this honor alongside Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis, New Orleans Pelicans’ Yves Missi, Washington Wizards’ Bub Carrington, and Portland Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan.He garnered 138 points in the voting process, which were 13 short of possibly beating out Alex Sarr for the last spot in the NBA All-Rookie First-Team
Despite this, Ware still made history. He became the eighth player in franchise history to be given this honor, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat rookie joins greats like Justice Winslow, Mario Chalmers, Glen Rice, Tyler Herro, Kevin Edwards, Willie Burton, and Udonis Haslem in this pantheon.
I love what he’s doing. Number one, he’s glass-eating. He has such a knack for rebounding over a crowd. He does rebound in traffic, too. There’s a lot of contact down there. He finds a way to come up with it. He’s helping our offense in terms of being a connector, a screener,” the Heat head honcho said.
Ware has been fielded by an average of 21.6 minutes in his first year. This has gotten him to score 9.1 points and grab 7.1 rebounds a game. Obviously, his role is with the Heat, and Coach Spoelstra will expand entering the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Heat head coach especially likes the fact that the young gun has shown a specific attribute that will be useful for the Heat in their late-season push for a playoff berth.
“He’s showing maturity right now, playing winning basketball, helping our offense excel in the minutes he’s on the court. That’s notable for a young guy. That’s maturity,” Spoelstra added.
Will he and Adebayo be the next lethal frontcourt that will ravage the Eastern Conference?
