Ware addressed Spoelstra's viral comments, as the Heat head coach acknowledged that he threw unfair criticism on the sophomore big man.
Kel'El Ware addressed the controversial comments that Erik Spoelstra offered against him following the Miami Heat's 119-114 home loss against the Boston Celtics.
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“I think it’s crazy but I mean, it’s his comments," he said, via Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang. "I’ve kind of learned to control what you can control. It is what it is.
"If I didn’t play the second half, that was his decision he felt he needed to make."
Spoelstra raised eyebrows of many in his postgame remarks regarding Ware after Thursday's loss against the Celtics. The longtime Heat mentor ripped the young big man for "stacking days in the wrong direction" as he didn't let Ware play in the entire second half.
Ware tallied three points on 1-5 shooting (1-4 from three-points) and five boards in nine minutes of play.
As such, in pregame of the team's matchup against the OKC Thunder, Spoelstra addressed his viral statement about Ware and claimed that he unfairly criticized the second-year center.
“I didn’t articulate that in a great way and that wasn’t fair to Kel’el,” Spoelstra said. “I wasn’t even frustrated. So what I’ll say is I’m fully invested in and invigorated about the opportunity to develop Kel’el, and our staff feels the same way.
"We’re going to give him everything we have to make sure he becomes the player that he wants to become, that we need him to become.”
Ware is averaging 11.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field in 41 games.
“Just going out there and playing, basically,” Ware said about how he'll handle Spoelstra’s words. “In order to produce, I guess, like he said eight weeks ago, I would say I had more minutes eight weeks ago. But I guess to try to bring that same productivity to the minutes that I’m getting now.”
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