Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and center Kel'el Ware appear to make up
Miami Heat center Kel'el Ware and coach Erik Spoelstra have apparently made up.
Not that Spoelstra had to apologize but did sort of do so before Saturday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I didn't articulate that in a great way and that wasn't fair to Kel'el…I'm fully invested and invigorated by the opportunity to develop Kel'el… I think he’s markedly improved not only his approach but his work ethic, professionalism and his game. I do have to figure out some things and it might not happen immediately. There’s some rotations that have to produce a little. Better. Some of the impact and the on and off numbers have to be a little bit better.”
Spoelstra was referencing the comments he made last week about Ware expecting for things to get handed to him.
Here's what Spoelstra had to say about it.
"He's [Ware] stacking days in the wrong direction now," Spoelstra said. "He's got to get back to those 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. With some young players, [they] subconsciously play poorly to say, 'Hey, I'll play poorly until you play me the minutes I think I deserve, then I'll play well. That's not how it works."
Ware seemed to brush the issue aside. He understands the Heat have given him every opportunity to excel since he was drafted last season. At one point, Ware has been considered one of the steals of the draft. The only problem is he's battled so much inconsistency during his two seasons. Many Heat fans also let Ware know he was underachieving as of late.
“Honestly I’m not gonna lie," Ware said. "I think it’s crazy but I mean, it’s his comments. I’ve kinda learned to control what you can control. It is what it is. If I didn’t play the 2nd half that was his decision he felt he needed to make. In order to produce I guess like he said 8 weeks ago, I would say I had more minutes 8 weeks ago.”
Ware had seven points and nine rebounds in the Heat's victory against the Thunder. It seems he got the message. The Heat return to action Monday against the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com