Shaquille O'Neal Praises Miami Heat's Kel'el Ware On Memorable Night

Tony Mejia | Mar 26, 2025

Miami Heat center Kel'el Ware delivered another double-double in a win over the Golden State Warriors and earned praise from legendary big man Shaquille O'Neal at halftime of TNT's broadcast. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

For a franchise that suffered through the indignity of its first double-digit losing streak in nearly two decades, Tuesday night provided quite the release. The Heat handled business in protecting homecourt against the Golden State Warriors in Jimmy Butler’s return to Miami, even holding on to a lead for a change.

Although Bam Adebayo starred in the 112-86 rout, rookie frontcourt mate Kel’el Ware had an equally memorable night. His 14-point, 10-rebound double-double was his fourth in six games and his 11th of the season, but hearing that he got Shaquille O’Neal’s attention is what will likely be the most memorable development for the 20-year-old.

“I want to get his name correct. Kel’el Ware,” O’Neal started when asked by TNT host Adam Lefkoe to comment on the kid whose first name is close to Superman’s given name. “Really good role player. Very active. I’m surprised he’s just now starting out. Definitely embodying the Heat culture, what they do, play hard, Great conditioning.”

O’Neal, who has a history of being hard on big men, particularly young ones, seemed genuinely impressed with what he saw out of Ware,who has averaged 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and shot 65.6 percent from the field over the last six games.

The Diesel broke down his game, complimenting him rolling hard towards the basket and lauded his jump hook.

“It seems to me that he can do a lot,”O’Neal said. “I’d like to see him get more repetitions.”

Shaq can count on that, because even though Erik Spoelstra has experimented with him off the bench some this month, the Heat head coach has given Ware consistent minutes, playing him 26.3 per game this month after giving him 27.7 in February. His development and consistency have been one of the bright spots in what has otherwise been a dismal last few months for Miami. 

“You can create a lot of havoc (with Ware) in that dunker’s spot,” Spoelstra said when discussing Ware’s development and how Miami can capitalize when Adebayo is drawing most of the attention. “That makes them re-think what they’re going to do with that matchup.

“Offensive rebounding, his crash percentage has gone up over the last three weeks. He’s got the IQ where he’s starting to see it. He’s earning more opportunities. He’s impacting the game. That’s the most important thing, and as a young guy, he’s starting to get there.”

Ware punctuated a breakthrough night on a national stage with a third-quarter layup that will make the Top 10 list on every highlight show since he lost the ball on his way to the rim, found it in mid-air and scooped it up in one motion. 

“Unbelievable,” exclaimed play-by-play man Brian Anderson. 

Shaq had already given Ware his props at halftime, so Ware’s phone undoubtedly got a workout while he was finishing helping the Heat win consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 26-28.

Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com