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.”…