--- title: What LeBron James Muscle Cramps Teach About Dehydration description: LeBron James cramped up during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Make sure you don't get cramps this summer canonical: https://time.com/2838718/avoid-cramps-lebron-james/ author: Abby Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-06T18:14:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:16:17.395Z article:section: Health og:title: What LeBron James Muscle Cramps Teach About Dehydration og:description: LeBron James cramped up during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Make sure you don't get cramps this summer og:url: https://time.com/2838718/avoid-cramps-lebron-james/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff623b4bbfeb7a7/6986968e55a85969e3a81428/lebron-james-muscle-cramp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2392 og:image:height: 1346 og:image:alt: LeBron James muscle cramp og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What LeBron James Muscle Cramps Teach About Dehydration twitter:description: LeBron James cramped up during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Make sure you don't get cramps this summer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff623b4bbfeb7a7/6986968e55a85969e3a81428/lebron-james-muscle-cramp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Avoid LeBron James-Style Cramps This Summer > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=133a6c67-05cc-490a-9f42-1b338122194d&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/subscribe?i=133a6c67-05cc-490a-9f42-1b338122194d&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's health newsletter? Health Matters is TIME's daily health newsletter, written by TIME's health journalists. It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. It reaches 240,000 subscribers with a 54.1% open rate as of August 2026, TIME's highest open rate of any newsletter. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jun 6, 2014 6:14 PM UTC  LeBron James reacts after cramping up during Game One of the 2014 NBA Finals on June 5, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. LeBron James reacts after cramping up during Game One of the 2014 NBA Finals on June 5, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas.Andy Lyons—Getty Images by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jun 6, 2014 6:14 PM UTC Miami Heat star LeBron James got overheated when the air conditioner broke down during game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday—but hot weather doesn’t have to get you down this summer. As on-court temperatures surpassed 90 degrees, James got leg cramps so bad he had to be carried off the court. After the Heat lost—with him on the bench—[he said](http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-06-06/sports/sfl-miami-heat-lebron-james-cramp-s060514%5F1%5Flebron-james-high-school-game-nba-finals) he had plenty of fluids during halftime and changed his uniform to get sweat off his body. “I got all the fluids I need to get, I do my normal routine I’ve done and it was inevitable for me tonight,” he said. “I lost all the fluids that I was putting in in the last couple of days out there on the floor.” One of the most common causes of muscle cramps is overexertion in hot environments. When doing physical activity, the body loses fluids through sweat, so it requires more fluids to keep it going. James was the only one who had to leave the game for cramps, and sports physician William J. Long noted the superstar’s history of cramps, speculating he might be more susceptible to the problem. “When he gets dehydrated, he gets cramped,” Long, a specialist in knee and hip reconstruction, told TIME. Another factor that may have contributed to the athlete’s cramps is the environment itself, Long said. “It’s an unfamiliar environment, and in an unfamiliar environment your body goes into fight or flight response,” Long said. “Adrenaline rushes and that tends to mask early signs of dehydration.” Long said many people may experience the problem of not being properly acclimatized to different environments, especially in the summer when they go from air-conditioned buildings to hot outdoor temperatures. To prevent dehydration and cramps, Long said the No. 1 thing you can do is know your body. People should allow time for their bodies to adjust to new environments, alter their behavior patterns in the summer, and be aware of the warning signs like an unusually pale complexion and severely increased heart rate and breathing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2838718/avoid-cramps-lebron-james/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2838718/avoid-cramps-lebron-james/"},"headline":"How to Avoid LeBron James-Style Cramps This Summer","datePublished":"2014-06-06T18:14:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:16:17.395Z","description":"LeBron James cramped up during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. 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