Miami Heat big man Kel’el Ware has already made plenty of headlines for his breakthrough rookie campaign in recent months. But on Sunday afternoon, he turned some heads for a literal high-flying dunk that saw him take a bump to the head – from the backboard, of all things.
In the first half of Miami’s game against the Washington Wizards, Ware went up for an alley-oop lob from Davion Mitchell. As he ran along the sideline and jumped into the air, he caught the ball and smacked his head along the padding of the backboard. Sure enough, he still finished the play and came away with an easy slam dunk – although he looked somewhat caught off guard as he landed.
Ware remained in the game, where he played nine minutes through the first two quarters of action. In that span, the Miami big man tallied nine points and three rebounds, although the Heat still trailed 66-60 at the break.
In just over 22 minutes per contest this season, Ware has averaged 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, providing a much-needed punch to Miami’s frontcourt this season.
After Sunday’s game, the Heat will hit the road to take on the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Play-In Tournament. If Miami wins, it will play the loser of the No. 7 seed game between the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks. If the Heat lose, however, their season will be over, and they will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
