Erik Spoelstra explains Kel’el Ware’s lack of playing time in loss to Bulls

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

Saturday’s contest against Chicago marked his third game back from a hamstring injury as Spoelstra benched him, but he will have just one tackle the entire game. That part lasted three minutes and 11 seconds, recording two points with one rebound, an assist and sloppy defense.

It was enough to keep Ware out for the rest of the game, as his playing time was a constant question Spoelstra asked during his presser, which he acknowledged, saying the scorecards were “not an indictment” of the 21-year-old.

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

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

Erik Spoelstra plays just three minutes and 11 seconds on Kel’el Ware tonight in a loss to the Bulls:

“Look, I know every press conference ends up being about him, and I really don’t want it to be… This isn’t an indictment of Kel’el. This game was so quick…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/6svVl6bFnI

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 1, 2026

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

The Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on using Kel’el Ware

It’s not the first time The Heat head coach hasn’t played Ware in a long timewith the most recent viral example coming in a 119-114 loss to the Boston Celtics on January 15th. After that game, Spoelstra would go back on comments where he said young players, one might think implying Ware was part of that group, sabotaged games with limited minutes to play better in extended time.

Still, Spoelstra wants to come up with rotations with Vera that would make him a net positive, but if one thing is certain, the coach noted how “hardworking” the young star has been this season.

“There will be better opportunities and we have to find a way to make it happen,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve got two talented young big men, and I’ve got to find a way to, you know, make some of the lineups with Kel’el positive, and it’s not on him, some of the lineups that we haven’t been successful with. I mean, we don’t have a lot of practice time, he’s been working hard behind the scenes, and we’ll be ready to go.”

No doubt this has been a season for Ware, who has shown flashes of greatness but has also shown his flaws at times, but there is no denying the 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 will look like for the rest of the season, with his next opportunity coming Sunday night in Game 2 against the Bulls.