MIAMI — There have been ample creative, compelling, crushing collaborations on dunks for the Miami Heat over the franchise’s 38 seasons, arguably none more so than Dwyane Wade leaving a drop pass and then going airplane arms while LeBron James finished with a savage dunk in Milwaukee in 2010.
In that case, each reveled in the moment . . . and then for years to come with the iconic photo that captured the collaboration.
And then came Sunday night in Washington, when a different pair of Heat teammates created a picture-perfect moment for one — not quite so much for the other.
Because as Bam Adebayo attacked a second-quarter offensive rebound with seemingly nothing but open air space toward the rim, teammate Kel’el Ware had similar thoughts of contesting that same carom of that Davion Mitchell errant attempt.
So up and over went Adebayo, and straight down upon Ware came Adebayo’s dunking wrath.
Adebayo flexed.
Ware smiled.
“That,” coach Erik Spoelstra said afterward, before leaving the victory in Washington for Monday night’s home game against the Utah Jazz, “was a fun moment that I’m sure that we’ll play in the locker room quite a few times.”
As in as soon as the game was over, with Adebayo marching a phone down to Ware’s locker space at Capital One Arena, with vigor almost as fierce as the dunk itself.
All, mind you, in good fun, because for as uneven as the pairing has been at times, the two have maintained a needed mentor (Adebayo), mentee (Ware) relationship.
Minutes later, the locker room opened to the media, with Ware, with a smile, stating “don’t ask.”
Except the captain insisted it be asked, as requirement for his postgame interview.
So with Ware still within earshot as the cameras and microphones approached, Adebayo set the ground rules.
“If it ain’t about me dunking on Kel’el, I don’t want to answer,” Adebayo said. “So choose wisely.”
Wisely chosen, the first question of his media session was, “Bam, your thoughts on dunking on Kel’el Ware tonight?”
Bam Adebayo with a monster poster dunk on his own teammate, Kel’el Ware (with replays)
Heat and Wizards commentaries pic.twitter.com/lrnLkhoGDe
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) February 8, 2026
“Boom, dude,” Adebayo replied, soaking in the moment of mirth amid the grind that soon would have the Heat airborne for another game the following night.
“Yeah,” Adebayo said, “we always joke that I never dunked on him. It just so happened that I dunked on him in the game. Sorry, Kel’el.”
The irony is that a point relentlessly driven home by Spoelstra to Ware has been not only attacking the glass, but attacking with force.
“When we were playing them before, there were times where that wasn’t one of our better rebounding groups,” Spoelstra said Sunday of Adebayo-Ware. “Right now, I think they understand that, how important it is.”
So Ware attacked with force, only to be met by greater teammate force.
“Well, I was in a good place,” Ware said, “I was going to grab the rebound. To be honest, he didn’t even crash. But yeah, the unfortunate happened.”
Never had it happen before from a teammate?
“No, I haven’t,” Ware said.
Bam reacts to that poster pic.twitter.com/B70GvGzssM
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 8, 2026
Asked if he ever had been dunked on by a teammate, guard Norman Powell said, “Oh, never, never. When I was younger, I was probably the one doing that to other teammates. I wouldn’t let that stand, so I got to talk to Kel’el about that.”
Adebayo said knew Ware was there.
But so was the ball.
And so was the rim.
“A hundred percent.” Adebayo said. “Yeah, I had a free runway too.
“And then, I didn’t know it was going to bounce that perfect, though. And then he jumped, I was like, ‘Oh yeah.’ ”
And then, after the game, poised to slam in a different manner.
“If y’all look around the next couple of days on my social media profile, pictures or somebody getting dunked on, y’all know who it is,” Adebayo said.
And, with that, back into action.
“Anybody got the photo?” Adebayo asked on social media before the Heat even reached their postgame flight. “Ima put it in his locker lol.”
December 6, 2010: One of the most famous photos in NBA history was taken of LeBron James finishing a dunk after a no-look pass from Dwyane Wade during an 88-78 Heat win over the Bucks in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/DQNQEbrYZj
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) December 6, 2022
