Mark Cuban defends LeBron James cramping up

Miami Heat superstar LeBron James cramped up at the end of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs and had to be carried off the court. The air conditioner at the AT&T Center “wasn’t working” creating a hot and humid environment which could’ve played a role in the cramping up, though it didn’t seem to affect other players.

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Nevertheless the internet had their way with it criticizing and defending James, but mostly criticizing James. He has a supporter and defender in an unlikely source, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

“You ever had a cramp? You can’t walk. You can’t move,” Cuban said in an interview with theblaze.com, via the Dallas Morning News. “Even if you’re not an athlete, you’ve probably had a cramp, like in the middle of the night, where you feel like you’ve been shot in the leg. It’s unfair criticism. LeBron … I felt bad for him. I never feel bad for the Heat, so I take that side. But I did feel bad for LeBron.”

The Mavericks and Heat are rivals to a certain extent because both played their first two NBA Finals against one another, and split them 1-1. That being said, the Mavericks are rivals with their in-state neighbors the Spurs, and it might surprise you to learn that Cuban is pulling for the Spurs to win.

Though he has his reasons.

“I’m rooting for the Spurs,” Cuban said. “I want Tim Duncan to hit a game-winning shot in Game 7. Game 7 … that’s good for the NBA business. I want him to hit the game-winning shot, run off the court down the runway, celebrate, never to be seen on the basketball court again because he retires at that very moment. Spurs in seven, selfishly, because I want a lot of those guys to retire.”