Heat’s Erik Spoelstra explains Kel’el Ware’s lack of playing time in loss vs. Bulls

MIAMI – As the Miami Heat fell to the short-handed Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, 125-118, the storyline of the game that had social media blazing surrounded second-year center Kel’el Ware. With the Heat’s young big man selected to the Rising Stars game for All-Star weekend, his playing time on Saturday caught some fans off guard, leading to head coach Erik Spoelstra explaining his reasoning.

The contest against Chicago on Saturday marked the third game he’s returned from a hamstring injury, as Spoelstra brought him off the bench, but he would have only one stint the entire game. That stretch in question lasted three minutes and 11 seconds, recording two points with one rebound, an assist, and a sloppy defensive effort.

It was enough to keep Ware out for the rest of the game, as his playing time has been a recurring question asked to Spoelstra during his pressers, something he acknowledged, saying the minutes are “not an indictment” on the 21-year-old.

“I know every press conference ends up becoming about him, and I really don’t want it to be that,” Spoelstra said. “I’ll go quickly on it, because this is not an indictment on Kel’el. This game was so fast, they were playing small forwards at center. The advantage was the speed and the quickness…in my opinion…It was just not a typical game, and I even felt like we maybe should have downsized a little bit.”

“Any advantage they had with speed, they made us pay for, and that had nothing to do with Kel’el,” Spoelstra continued.

Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware only playing three minutes and 11 seconds tonight in loss to Bulls:

“Look, I know every press conference ends up becoming about him, and I really don't want it to be that…This is not an indictment on Kel’el. This game was so fast…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/6svWl6bFnY

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 1, 2026

Spoelstra instead opted to use Bam Adeayo or Nikola Jovic at center, going small. Adebayo would have 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Jovic had two points on one of six shots from the field.

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on utilizing Kel’el Ware 

It hasn’t been the first time that the Heat head coach didn’t play Ware for a huge stretch of time, with the last viral example coming in the 119-114 loss to the Boston Celtics on Jan. 15. After that game, Spoelstra would walk back comments made where he said young players, one would think it implying Ware as a part of that group, sabotaged games with limited minutes to play better in extended playing time.

Still, Spoelstra is looking to figure out rotations with Ware that make it a net positive, but if there is one thing for certain, the coach has noticed how “diligent” the young star has been throughout this season.

“There’ll be better opportunities, and we have to find a way to make it work,” Spoelstra said. “I have two talented young bigs, and I have to find a way to, you know, make some of the lineups with Kel’el a positive, and that’s not on him, to some of the lineups that we’ve gone to have not been successful with. I mean, we don’t have a lot of practice time, he’s been diligent working behind the scenes. He’ll be ready, and we’ll just see what happens as we move forward.”

It has no doubt been an up-and-down season for Ware, showing flashes of greatness, but other times displaying his flaws, but there’s no denying the bevy of talent. So far in his sophomore year, he’s averaging 11.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 54 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three-point range.

It remains to be seen what Ware’s playing time looks like for the rest of the season, with the next opportunity coming Sunday night in another game against the Bulls.

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