While the Miami Heat waits to learn whether it will be represented in this season’s NBA All-Star Game, the Heat learned Monday it will be represented in this season’s Rising Stars event.
Second-year center Kel’el Ware will represent the Heat in this year’s Rising Stars showcase, which will help kick off All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles next month. No other Heat players were among the 28 invited to participate in the event.
“It’ll be fun,” Ware said Tuesday of being named to the Rising Stars showcase. “It’ll be a fun experience. Not too many people get to do it, obviously. So soak in the moment and enjoy it.”
Rising Stars, which is the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts, will be played at 9 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Intuit Dome during All-Star Weekend. The event will feature a mini-tournament consisting of four teams and three games, and will be aired live on Peacock.
This marks the first time that Ware has been selected for Rising Stars after missing the cut last season despite being good enough to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
“We congratulated him before practice,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Tuesday when asked about Ware’s honor. “I think it’s a good thing. I think anytime you can go out and see greatness, it’s a fun weekend. It’s not like that game is going to be an intense scrimmage. It’s more about being around the guys and seeing how they got to where they are.”
Ware, 21, is averaging 11.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 54% from the field and 41.5% on 2.9 three-point attempts per game in 43 appearances (27 starts) during his second NBA season. That’s up from Ware’s rookie production, when he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.4% from the field and 31.5% on threes last season.
Ware has missed the last four games with a strained hamstring, but he was able to practice with the team on Tuesday and said he feels likes he’s “good to go” for Wednesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
The other Heat candidates for this season’s Rising Stars event were second-year guard Pelle Larsson and rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis. But they were not selected.
However, it’s still possible Jakucionis and/or Larsson could take part in the event as a potential injury replacement.
The Rising Stars player pool consists of 10 NBA rookies, 11 NBA sophomores and seven NBA G League players.
The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will make up the fourth team.
In selecting the NBA players for Rising Stars, each NBA team submitted one ballot per coaching staff. Coaches were not permitted to vote for any player on their team.
The Rising Stars draft will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Peacock. Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will serve as honorary coaches for the Rising Stars tourney, while former NBA guard Austin Rivers will coach the G League team in the event.
Ware is the 13th different Heat player in franchise history to be selected for the Rising Stars event. That list includes Khalid Reeves (1995), Kurt Thomas (1996), Caron Butler (2003), Dwyane Wade (2004 and 2005), Udonis Haslem (2004 and 2005), Michael Beasley (2009 and 2010), Norris Cole (2012), Kendrick Nunn (2020), Tyler Herro (2020 and 2021), Precious Achiuwa (2021), Alondes Williams (2024), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2024 and 2025) and Ware (2026).
In the Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal (Game 2). The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship (Game 3).
For each semifinal game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. For the championship game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
The next question for the Heat: Will a player from its roster be selected as an NBA All-Star this season?
While no Heat players were picked as All-Star starters this year, Heat guard Norman Powell is expected to receive strong consideration for an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve spot. Heat center Bam Adebayo will also receive some All-Star consideration.
Head coaches will select the seven reserves from each conference, which will be announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. on NBC/Peacock. The seven reserve spots for the Feb. 15 NBA All-Star Game are being selected this season without regard to position.
Under the new NBA All-Star Game format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games for this season’s showcase event.
The last time the Heat did not have a player make the NBA All-Star Game came in 2021. The Heat has been represented in seven of the last eight NBA All-Star Games.