If You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss
In June, LeBron James exercised his player option to continue playing for the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025-26 NBA season. In 2024, he signed a two-year, $104 million contract that contained a no-trade clause. So, he will be paid approximately $52.6 million for the upcoming season, his record-breaking 23rd in the league.
James, who will turn 41 in December, is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He is a four-time NBA champion, a four-time league MVP, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and has played in 21 NBA All-Star games, where he was named MVP three times. He is consistently in the discussion for the greatest basketball player of all time.
One of James’ few stumbles, however, was in 2010. When he became a free agent at the conclusion of the season, James was the star of a 75-minute, commercial-laden special dubbed “The Decision” that aired live on ESPN. Sitting in a gym at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, he then announced his decision to “take his talents to South Beach” by signing with the Miami Heat.
While the show received high ratings, many were critical of James for monetizing the announcement and not telling his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, of his choice until moments before the show began.
Because all wounds heal with time, though, most of us forgot about “The Decision.” That was until James teased on social media that he would be announcing “the decision of all decisions” on October 7.
Since James is in the last year of his contract, fans speculated that he would be announcing his retirement after the upcoming season. As a result, Lakers’ ticket prices soared, particularly for their last game of the year. According to the ticket reseller StubHub, the average price of tickets for Lakers games increased from $250 to $500 in the hour following James’ post.
On the morning of the 7th, James was sitting in agym with an interviewer that looked eerily similar to “The Decision.” He was even wearing the same shirt. “Man, this is tough,” James said, echoing his announcement from 2010. “In this fall, I’m going to be taking my talents to…Hennessy VSOP.”
So, the spot was a tongue-in-cheek reveal of James’ partnership with the French company that produces Very Superior Old Pale, a classification for Cognac indicating that the brandy blend has been aged in oak barrels for at least four years.
“I feel like it’s going to give me the best opportunity to win at hosting, not only that, win at signature cocktails, win at a good time, win at impressive guess, win at making memories, win at making it look easy, win at leaving people wanting more… I like my decision,” James explained.
Not everyone was amused, however. Andrew Garcia, a 29-year-old, lifelong Lakers fan, actually sued James in a small claims court in Los Angeles County the next day. Assuming the King was announcing his retirement, Garcia immediately went to Ticketmaster to buy two tickets for $432.83 apiece to attend James’ last-ever matchup with the Cavaliers on March 31, 2026.
Garcia accuses James of “fraud, deception, misrepresentation, and any and all basis of legal recovery,” and is seeking the cost of the tickets, or $865.66, as damages, alleging they no longer have any value. “I wouldn’t have purchased it if he wasn’t going to retire,” Garcia claimed. “Plain and simple.”
At 40, it’s amazing that LeBron can still jump as high as he does, seeing as he gets no support from the Cavs.
Reg P. Wydeven
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