Rising star requires rising minutes with the Miami Heat

It hasn't always been smooth sailing for the Miami Heat's captain and rising star when it comes to playing next to one another in the front-court this season.

Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware -- who will participate in Friday's Rising Stars challenge at All-Star Weekend -- playing together hasn't always been the way for head coach Erik Spoelstra, as he would deploy the duo for pockets of the season before pulling it back due to the defensive consistency of the group.

But when taking a step back and eyeing down this roster and season, it would appear this duo would need to be prioritized. Constantly being overmatched by larger teams is tiresome on a night to night basis, so getting this big man duo right should be a priority.

Yet as guys have been in and out of the rotation over these last three games, Erik Spoelstra has leaned right back into it. And it's worked.

Adebayo and Ware are a plus-68 in 42 minutes over these last three games, as there are a couple factors leading to this.

Number one is the rebounding. There's less pressure on each of them knowing that the other can clean up the play behind them. Plus there's just a ton of opportunities for offensive rebounds and second chance points, as we saw in New Orleans.

Kel’el Ware on sharing the floor with Bam Adebayo:

“It makes everything better I would say. It makes it more of a safe space not just for us but the guards. If you get blown by you have either me or Bam back there. We can protect the rim. One can go for the block, one can go for… pic.twitter.com/FAhkcsbfVk
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) February 12, 2026

“It makes everything better I would say," Ware stated on the pairing. "It makes it more of a safe space not just for us but the guards. If you get blown by you have either me or Bam back there. We can protect the rim. One can go for the block, one can go for the rebound. Hopefully we can keep that up and play team ball, it’ll be good for us.”

Not only is it good for the guards to have some defensive security, but it opens up lanes on the glass for some of them to join the party.

In New Orleans, Myron Gardner grabbed 10 boards and 4 offensive. Simone Fontecchio and Dru Smith each got a pair of offensive rebounds as well.

The point is that when defenses focus on boxing out these two bigs, it opens up the other gaps for solid slashers like Andrew Wiggins or Pelle Larsson to get involved.

But as Adebayo said after the last game on the matter, it's not only about the rebounding.

Bam Adebayo on what him and Kel’el Ware have to keep doing to make this duo successful:

“It’s not even about the boards, we just gotta be active — not necessarily about the boards. Everyone is going to point to that but if we’re active on offense and defense it looks great and… pic.twitter.com/GSs9JLHcR9
— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) February 12, 2026

“It’s not even about the boards, we just gotta be active," Adebayo said. "Everyone is going to point to that but if we’re active on offense and defense it looks great and it can help this team.”

While the defense is the focus with these two on the floor, the offense has been the area of consistency. It helps when Ware is knocking down 40% of his three balls, while Adebayo shot 38% from deep in January.

Once that respect from the perimeter got involved, it simply eliminated the clunkiness potential of their half court offense.

In all honesty, these two have a real chemistry on that end of the floor. Nobody has a better connection with Ware than his draft buddy Pelle Larsson, but I'd almost go as far to say Adebayo is cemented in the second spot.

Whether it was an Adebayo wrap around baseline kick-out for a Ware three to start the game in New Orleans, or an over the top high-low action from Ware to Adebayo in Washington, the two guys have come a long way in that department.

Yet the biggest thing: Erik Spoelstra is coming around on it.

Erik Spoelstra on the Bam–Ware lineup:

"I liked it. I think both are in a different place than they were six to eight weeks ago — three months ago — for different reasons. But that gives us a different look. And the versatility of being able to play the two of them together and… pic.twitter.com/lnIl1FIE7h
— Heat Diehards (@HeatDiehards) February 12, 2026

"I liked it. I think both are in a different place than they were six to eight weeks ago...for different reasons," said Coach Spo. "But that gives us a different look. And the versatility of being able to play the two of them together and pound the glass on both ends is a weapon for us."

The biggest reason I believe Spoelstra is leaning into this finally is due to the visable enjoyment and energy bump these guys get when these two guys are deployed.

Whether it's the smiles after the Adebayo poster dunk over Ware in Washington, or the constant comments from his captain on wanting to see this play out, there's been a real push for them to figure this thing out.

"They both want to make it work," Spoelstra said recently on going back to it. "They both know where we have to improve to make it work...and I appreciate that."

The Miami Heat are where they are in the Eastern Conference standings. Probably won't rise much higher, probably won't drop much lower.

But what they can do is better themselves not only for the remainder of this season, but position themselves for the future.

Kasparas Jakucionis' recent playing time is a representation of that.

Now this Adebayo-Ware pairing is the second part of the equation.

Not only is it time to lean into it, it's time to stick to it.