Inside The Heat

Miami Heat Rookie Kel'el Ware Picks Bam Adebayo On His NBA Mount Rushmore

Shandel Richardson

Apr 21, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) controls the ball during the first half in game one of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 21, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) controls the ball during the first half in game one of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports / Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
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Perhaps Miami Heat rookie Kel'el Ware was just trying to get some cool points with his future teammate.

Ware, who the Heat drafted with the No. 15 pick out of Indiana, was recently asked by Bally Sports to give his Mount Rushmore of the NBA. In other words, the top four players in league history.

He chose Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, who are both in the Hall of Fame. The last two were a little more questionable. He ended the group with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Heat teammate Bam Adebayo.

While Edwards and Adebayo are top-tier talents in the league right now, not many would consider them among the best four players of all-time. At least not right now.

But credit Ware for supporting Adebayo, who has improved each season. He is coming off making his third All-Star appearance. Pairing him with Ware could even make him a better player.

The Heat drafted the 7-foot Ware with the intention of moving Adebayo from center to power forward so he could flourish more as a perimeter as a scorer.

Ware is coming off a breakout sophomore season at Indiana, where he earned All-Big Ten second-team honors and made the Big Ten All-Defensive team.

"I'll be able to fit well in with the Heat," Ware said. "Just being at that five position to help Bam out, with him potentially going to the four. Just being able to space the floor out, everything will be much easier for the whole team."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside of the Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here