Kel'el Ware just proved why it's absolutely outrageous for Miami Heat fans to give up on him this soon into his career. If his performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers from Monday night is any indication, he could be a special player when he fully develops and when it officially "clicks" for the 7-foot center.
In what will likely be remembered as the best game of his career (thus far), Ware finished with 14 points, 20 rebounds, and one block on 50 percent shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, Ware was a plus-6 in the team's overtime win over the Cavaliers.
What you have to like most about Ware's performance is that even after somewhat of a rough stretch early on in the game, he responded instead of falling into the abyss as we've seen time and time before.
That could be a sign of maturity, and that he's finally beginning to understand the ebbs and flows of the NBA game.
Even Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was pleased with Ware's performance, garnering some high praise after the big win.
Spo on Ware: "Best game he's played in a Heat uniform... those efforts on the glass were incredible & he was reliable defensively, in it, in the right spots... Kel'el was there, doing the right thing." pic.twitter.com/jxyiAmbbyj
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) November 11, 2025
Over the past few months, the public praise of Ware from Spo has been far and few between. In fact, he's called out Ware a few times in the last six months, but has never truly stuck his head out for the young center like he did after Monday's game.
Not only did we see growth from Ware, but you could also see this game catapulting Spo into trusting him a bit more.
Kel'el Ware's presence without Bam Adebayo
There are going to be plenty of talking points after the Heat's140-138 overtime win over the Cavs, and deservedly so.
You can't say enough about Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Davion Mitchell. However, the fact that the Heat was able to pull out this victory without Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro is a huge storyline in itself.
And I'm not sure Miami is able to do that without the strong performance from Ware. The second-year center outrebounded both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, combined, and managed to deter much of Cleveland's offense in the paint.
If Ware doesn't show up as he did, the Heat probably don't stand a chance to win this game without Bam. That can't be overlooked, no matter how good the offense looked.
Because that will, and understandably so, be the story after this game. How the Heat's offense has evolved dramatically since the last time these two teams faced off against each other in the playoffs.
However, the play of Ware might've been the ultimate game-changer for the Heat against Cleveland on Monday night.
The question is, how will Ware respond after this game? Is this the moment that changes everything for Ware and the Heat moving forward? Or will this be remembered as a one-and-done performance?
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next, but one thing is clear: Ware just proved why it'd be crazy for fans to completely give up on him now.