Former Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware goes off in second NBA Summer League showing, earns first career double-double

Former Indiana basketball big man Kel’el Ware is officially with the Miami Heat and has had a couple of showings thus far in the NBA Summer League. While it has only been two showings so far for Ware, the former Hoosier had his best showing yet for his pro career.

In the Miami Heat’s 102-86 win summer league win over the Sacramento Kings in the California Classic, Kel’el Ware scored a game-high 26 points on 12-of-21 field goal shooting (57%) while also adding 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. This was the first double-double of Ware’s pro career.

During his time with Indiana basketball, Ware earned 15 double-doubles on his way to becoming 2nd Team All-Big Ten.

“This game I really wanted to show my offensive side more,” Kel’el Ware said postgame. “I feel like the more I get comfortable, it’s going to be way better than it was today.”

Watch: Kel’el Ware scores first career points for Miami Heat

Ware showed his full arsenal during his phenomenal performance. He was very good in the post-up actions using his length and skill around the rim to make plays and get buckets. He did a lot of similar things on the floor, including being an excellent rim-runner, just as we all saw him do during his sophomore season with Indiana basketball.

“At Oregon, they told me they wanted me to do it (rim run) a lot…especially at Indiana, Mike Woodson forced me to do that a lot,” Ware added. “He (Mike Woodson) wanted to bring that on me to the floor because that’s where you are going to score most of the points running in the NBA.

Ware was selected No. 15 overall by the Miami Heat in the 2024 NBA Draft.

“Kel’el is a physical monster,” Heat guard Cole Swider said after their first practice. “You can throw the ball anywhere and he’s going to catch and finish it.”

The 7-footer averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 32.2 minutes per game during his lone season with Indiana basketball. Those were vastly improved from his freshman season at Oregon where he averaged 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15.8 minutes per game.

Below are highlights of Kel’el Ware’s 26 point, 11 rebound double-double.

The @MiamiHEAT's No. 15 pick Kel'el Ware (26 PTS, 11 REB) got buckets and cleaned the glass in the win over the Kings 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3LMDjxwiwl

— NBA (@NBA) July 7, 2024

SEE ALSO: Former Indiana basketball guard Eric Gordon one win away from helping Bahamas to first-ever Olympics in men’s basketball

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