Jun 5, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) reacts after getting injured in the fourth quarter as he is helped by guard Dwyane Wade (3) and head coach Erik Spoelstra against the San Antonio Spurs in game one of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. The Spurs beat the Heat 110-95. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone seems to have an opinion on LeBron James and whether or not he should have pushed through the pain of his leg cramping up in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Former NBA player, Dale Ellis, recently wrote a piece at “Legends Corner” over at SportsBlog.com, defending James and his inability to compete due to his cramping:

Can you believe all the conversation about LeBron? Cramps in the 4th quarter prevented the best player in basketball from finishing the game. How can anyone question LeBron not playing due to cramps and compare it to Michael Jordan playing with the flu? Nonsense. No one can play through cramps. I’m sure that he would have loved to finish a game that many thought the HEAT would win. Their goal is to steal 1 of the first two games and return to Miami with home-court advantage. Why risk a muscle tear in an attempt to achieve this? Are critics being unfair to LeBron? Basketball is a team sport and if the HEAT can’t compete without LeBron, then they can’t win.

Ellis played over 1,200 games during his career. I’m sure he experienced cramping at some point in time. He can probably sympathize with James and the agony he must have felt from not only the injury, but being unable to play in a late-game situation as well.

James finished Game 1 with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including six rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Heat looked lost without their best player in the final moments of the fourth quarter as the Spurs regained the lead, winning 110-95.