Overview

LeBron James' Fake Retirement Announcement or the Hennessy x LeBron James Ad, also known as The Second Decision, refers to a series of ads posted to X / Twitter by NBA player LeBron James, starting with a video that makes it seem like he's going to announce whether or not he's retiring from basketball, which was later revealed in a second video to be a teaser for a crossover between James and Hennessy, a brand of alcoholic beverages (cognac). The first advertisement for the viral marketing stunt was posted on October 6th, 2025, and the reveal video was posted the next day, inspiring memes and reactions online, similar to the Snoop Dogg Quitting Smoke campaign. Reportedly, the rumors caused a surge in the price of Lakers tickets from fans who thought LeBron was actually retiring.

Background

Discussions about when LeBron James will retire from basketball have been widely circulating online in the 2020s. In late September 2025, during a Lakers media day, James said he expected to retire "sooner than later," saying, "Whatever the journey lays out this year, I’m super-invested because I don’t know when the end is. It’s a lot sooner than later."^[1]

On October 6th, 2025, LeBron James posted a video on X^[2] captioned, "The decision of all decisions. October 7th. 12pm EST. 🫡👑 #TheSecondDecision." In the video, James walks onto a basketball court and sits in a chair across from another man. The video gained over 172,000 likes and 40,000 reposts in less than 24 hours.

The video was reposted to the /r/nba^[3] subreddit that day, garnering over 5,300 upvotes in a day.

Developments

Retirement Rumors

The video inspired rumors that LeBron James was getting ready to announce his retirement in early October 2025. However, others guessed that it would be an advertisement.

For example, on October 6th, 2025, X^[4] user @futtywap commented under the post, "Gonna be an ad for Chipotle and he’s deciding between chicken or beef," garnering over 31,000 likes in a day.

Reportedly, the video caused a spike in Lakers game ticket prices due to the rumors and beliefs that his retirement was imminent.^[5]

Later that day, X^[6] user @NBAMemes made a post sharing a photo of LeBron James and his son, who is also in the NBA, writing, "LeBron and Bronny could be the first father-son duo to retire at the same time," garnering over 7,700 likes in a day.

Also on October 6th, 2025, X^[7] user @juulybawls posted, "LEBRON USE MY BODY AS A VESSEL AND PLAY ANOTHER 20 YEARS," assuming he would retire, garnering over 6,200 likes in a day.

Hennessy x LeBron Advertisement Reveal

On October 7th, 2025, the @Hennessy account posted a second video on X,^[8] revealing that he has decided to partner with Hennessy for a "Hennessy x LeBron" collaboration, garnering over 10,000 likes and 5,100 reposts in under a day.

LeBron James quote-reposted the video on X^[9] shortly after with the Emojis "😉😜👑," garnering over 27,000 likes in about two hours. In the ad, LeBron acts like he's making a decision about his retirement, but instead decides on a partnership with Hennessy.

That same day, a post was made to the /r/NBA^[10] subreddit to discuss the reveal, garnering over 2,100 upvotes and 400 comments in a few hours.

Lawsuit

On October 8th, 2025, TMZ^[14] reported that a Lakers fan, Andrew Garcia, filed a lawsuit in small claims court for a total of $865.66 after he bought two tickets to a Lakers game under the belief that LeBron James would retire due to the "Second Decision" teaser. The news was shared by the @BleacherReport X^[15] account on October 9th, garnering over 15,000 likes in under a day.

Online Reactions

LeBron James' Hennessy ads inspired numerous reactions and memes online in early October 2025, with some claiming it was obvious that it would just be an ad and others expressing frustration over LeBron tricking NBA fans.

On October 6th, 2025, X^[11] user @WeLowkeyBack posted, "If he announces his retirement it'll be the absolute worst thing to ever happen on October 7th," referring to the Hamas-Israel conflict, garnering over 100,000 likes in a day.

On October 7th, X^[12] user @8EightPillars quoted the Hennessy announcement video with a tweet reading, "Black excellence is really just n***a selling us liquor," garnering over 3,600 likes in a few hours.

That day, X^[13] user @Reflog_18 posted a meme using a scene from the film A Christmas Story in which the protagonist Ralphie says, "A crummy commercial?" garnering over 1,200 likes in under a day.

Search Interest

External References