If LeBron James’ original “The Decision” was a fascinating display of self-regard, Tuesday’s “The Second Decision” was easily the cringiest, corniest thing he has ever done in his otherwise superlative career.
Spoiler: It was a liquor ad.
When LeBron originally tweeted out Monday he was announcing “The decision of all decisions” at noon ET Tuesday, it sent fans on social media into a frenzy:
Is LeBron announcing that this is his last season?
Clear-eyed observers knew that was the remotest possibility, and self-consciously worded messages from people around LeBron indicated that this wasn’t going to be a retirement announcement. Occam’s razor didn’t stop speculators from slamming the ticket resale sites to snatch up Los Angeles Lakers finale tickets, which were lurching upward at ever-increasing prices.
That left an advertisement or another marketing message as what we were all looking at:
Maybe something about Amazon Prime Day? (Shout-out to my colleagues at Wirecutter!) Maybe something about Apple or Beats? Maybe something with Nike?
By invoking “The Decision” — the famous/infamous TV special announcing his free-agency hop from hometown Cleveland to Miami, including the instantly memorable and meme-able “I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach” phrasing — LeBron was setting a pretty high bar for cultural relevance, bringing up arguably the biggest off-court NBA moment of the 21st century.
“The Decision” transfixed. Thirteen million people tuned in for the moment itself. That’s more than the average TV audience of the 2025 NBA Finals.
But it also infuriated, featuring a surge of social videos showing people burning LeBron jerseys in the streets of Ohio. That July 2010 night launched an entire industry of LeBron loathing. LeBron knew that by referencing “The Decision,” he was elevating Tuesday’s announcement into something with maximum emotional baggage for fans.
Then, to have it end up being … just a liquor ad?
Meanwhile, the execution was equally awkward: In LeBron’s original tweet Monday, he mentioned noon ET for his announcement. Around 10:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, Hennessy’s social media account posted the video. A few minutes later, LeBron sheepishly reposted the Hennessy post with a couple of emojis. It was almost like LeBron knew what a dud this was.
(Quick aside: I’ll never begrudge LeBron his opportunity to line up another massive endorsement deal, which this surely was. More power to him! But I’m mystified that he and his team thought that this marketing execution was a good idea. It must have been a very big check.)
If this is LeBron’s last season — and will that eventual announcement now officially be “The Decision 3,” or will they ret-con today’s dud into oblivion, like a movie sequel no one talks about? — I do feel like that announcement is worthy of a “The Decision”-level spectacle.
A big public moment to announce the end of LeBron’s career would have been a fitting bookend to the original “The Decision” that, in many ways, launched the modern LeBron that we have known in the 15 years since.
But this? Invoking an all-time sports-culture moment like “The Decision” just to support a cringy, corny ad for Hennessy? (Imagine if Michael Jordan faxed a note “I’m Back,” then the next page spat out: “I’m Back … to wear Hanes new ComfortBlend boxer-briefs.”)
This kind of build-up and let-down is beneath LeBron. It’s beneath us all.
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