LeBron James and his “second decision” announcement had the potential to create an earthquake in the NBA landscape. Instead, it turned out that Bron was simply shaking his table louder than necessary. It wasn’t a retirement or a team change. The King had joined hands with liquor brand Hennessy in a new partnership, which has since been heavily criticized. But as always, LeBron has his backers, with Gilbert Arenas being one of them.
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Arenas believes that James has earned the right to promote himself after giving his 100% to the league for 22 years. He’s 40 years old now and is still looking to play a key role in a team chasing the Championship. So, a little fun and some extra money on the side to go with it? That isn’t as scandalous as some in the NBA community are making it out to be.
Plus, it’s not like James was the first to promote brands this way. Arenas, in a podcast and then on X, compared him to the likes of Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, even explaining why James is one step ahead of them.
“It’s year 23, I mean goddamn, like what are you expecting that you didn’t expect from the rest of your GOATs?” Arenas pondered. “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, right? MJ. You was just happy they made it to the gym. Let alone trained and got on the court and actually put in work.”
“So, the fact that he’s done 22 years of promoting the NBA and then you get mad cuz he promotes himself for… come on man.”
James, in all fairness to Kareem and MJ, has been more impactful at the top at the age of 39-40 than they were. MJ wasn’t the explosive phenom he was up until his mid-30s, and Abdul-Jabbar was averaging around 15 points per game. LeBron, in comparison, averaged 25.7 last season.
About the Hennessy deal in particular, Arenas pointed out the hypocrisy. “Everybody mad at Bron for promoting Hennessy in year 23 like MJ didn’t have Hanes, Gatorade, and cigars in rotation. Greatness don’t clock out. Bron just adding bottles to the legacy.”
To be fair, no one questioned Bron’s legacy.
The reason people went after the Los Angeles Lakers star was because of his usage of the term “second decision”. The first, which came back in 2010, changed the league forever, because he left his home in Cleveland to win titles in Miami with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, forming a modern-day superteam by pure will.
So, because of James’ age, many people felt that the “second decision” was a retirement announcement. Or perhaps a revelation that he was returning to Cleveland for one last hurrah. Or perhaps the fact that he would be moving elsewhere.
Instead, it turned out to be an ad. That’s why the fury. Do you think it’s justified?.
