LeBron James sued for ‘fraud, deception’ for ‘Second Decision’ marketing tease

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James’ “second decision” announcement is now the subject of a lawsuit.

James had posted to social media, "The decision of all decisions. October 7th. 12pm EST. 🫡👑 #TheSecondDecision" with some fans thinking that he could be announcing his retirement.

But when Tuesday’s announcement was made, it was all an advertisement for a partnership between the NBA star and liquor company Hennessy.

He was promoting Hennessy VSOP, “a limited edition that bears James’ name and is available “in select markets worldwide,” this month, the company said in a news release.

LeBron James makes his ‘second decision’

Monday’s post caused the price of tickets for the Los Angeles Lakers’ final game of the regular season next April to surge on StubHub, USA Today reported. Tickets before the post were as low as $82, but after the cheapest ticket was $731, the publication reported Tuesday morning.

That’s where the lawsuit comes in.

Andrew Garcia filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court saying that James owes him $865.66 because of “fraud, deception, misrepresentation, and any and all basis of legal recovery,” The Los Angeles Times reported.

Garcia told the newspaper that he bought two tickets for the Lakers/Cleveland Cavaliers game for March 31 at Crypto.com Arena, believing that it would be James’s last game with the Lakers against the team that initially drafted him in 2003.

“Moments like that, I understand the value,” Garcia said. “There still may be some moderate value [to the tickets], however it’s not the same without him retiring. I remember Kobe’s last year, it was kind of what this would have been, per se, where every ticket was worth a lot. Every game had value.”

Garcia said that since the announcement was just an ad, James owes him the money back. TMZ reported that the tickets lost nearly all the value the Lakers fan paid.

“There is no circumstance absent him saying he’s gonna retire that I would have bought tickets that far in advance,” Garcia told the newspaper. “I mean, I buy tickets, but I don’t buy tickets five months in advance. I’m the kind of person that buys tickets five hours in advance. It was solely, solely, solely based on that. So that’s why I was really thinking, ‘You know what, this might be grounds for a case.’”

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