Former IU basketball center Kel’el Ware got his first NBA start on Tuesday evening.
And right away, he made a splash.
The 7-footer scored 20 points, pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds and added two blocks in 38 minutes against Portland.
According to OptaSTATS, Ware joins basketball great David Robinson as just the second player in the last 40 years to produce 20+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 2+ blocks in their first NBA career start.
Ware’s role and productivity have been on the rise for the last few weeks. Tuesday night’s effort followed a career-high tying 25 points against San Antonio on Sunday. Over his last 12 games, Ware is averaging 12.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks over 22.1 minutes per contest.
Prior to that, Ware’s role had been limited in his first NBA season that included some time in the G League.
Ware played one season for IU and led the Hoosiers in scoring (15.9 points per game), rebounding (9.9), blocked shots (1.9), and field goal percentage (58.6%). He was voted second-team All-Big Ten by the media.
Miami chose Ware with the 15th pick of the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft in June.
For more coverage of Hoosiers in the NBA, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
