Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James sent the basketball world into a frenzy when he revealed that he would announce “The Second Decision” on Oct. 7. James’ first Decision back in 2010 was his announcement that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat, so there was a lot of speculation about what this one might be.
Was James retiring? Was he leaving the Lakers in a year? Well, it turned out to be just a Hennessy ad. That didn’t go down too well with many, and former NBA player Lou Williams has now called out James for it on Run It Back on FanDuel TV.
“It’s the dad and the coach in me, right when you flirt with the Decision 2.0,” Williams said. “The first time, it was about the Boys and the Girls Club. And so when you do it again, you involve the kids. Like my daughter text me like, ‘Is LeBron retiring?’
“And so now you have this age of kids waiting to hear this decision, and we’re inviting them to a Hennessy party,” Williams added. “You know what I’m saying? So the dad and the coach in me, I didn’t love it.”
Williams stated that he did understand that business is business, but he didn’t like what James did. Now, some would suggest that the three-time Sixth Man of the Year is not the right messenger for this.
Williams, of course, works for a gambling company in FanDuel, so there’s this notion that he is being hypocritical. As for his actual point, you might be able to see where the 38-year-old is coming from.
The first Decision aired on ESPN and reportedly raised over $2 million for the Boys and Girls Club of America. The ad revenue generated from the sponsors going to a good cause might well have been the only positive aspect of that entire situation. So, there is a link established between children and the Decision, but this might be a bit of a reach.
Williams wasn’t the only one on the show who was critical of James doing this. Former NBA player Chandler Parsons felt this should have been beneath the 21-time All-Star.
“I thought it would be something worthy of making a decision about,” Parsons said. “So, yeah, I got duped a little bit, but I didn’t love this… It’s just you’re LeBron James, man. It just felt like a reach for attention when you just are the last person that needs that.”
This did seem like something James didn’t need to do. All eyes tend to be on him anyway, and a stunt like this was unnecessary.
Stephen A. Smith Went Off On LeBron James For Decision 2.0
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been going at James for months now, and you knew he was going to have a lot to say when this turned out to be just an advertisement. Smith ripped James for the stunt.
“This was corny as hell, it was cringey, it was all of that,” Smith said. “You’re promoting an alcoholic beverage and trying to give people the impression that this may be your final season. Compare that to Jordan saying ‘I’m back.’ I don’t understand why [LeBron] would stoop to trying to draw attention to himself other than winning a championship. If you play like garbage at any point in time when it really, really counts, I’m going to think about that Hennessy commercial and wonder if you were drinking something before the game.”
To go with all this media backlash, a Lakers fan named Andrew Garcia also filed a lawsuit against James. Garcia had believed he was retiring and purchased two tickets for what he thought would be his final game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 31, 2026. The tickets cost him $432.83 each, so he stated that James owed him $865.66 once it was revealed that this Decision was just an ad.
This was quite a story, but according to TMZ, Garcia has now dropped the lawsuit. James probably wasn’t the least bit concerned about this anyway.
