Recently, LeBron James played a not-so-clever trick on the NBA world by teasing a “second decision” announcement, which many predicted would pertain to his potential retirement, just to instead promote Hennessy. The poorly thought out advertisement drew a plethora of criticism from the NBA world, with fans accusing James of everything from selling out to being addicted to attention.
One fan, 29 year-old Andrew Garcia, went so far as to sue James in small claims court for fraud and deception as a result of the publicity stunt.
Recently, Garcia made it clear that he will not be taking this process lightly.
“In small claims, I cannot serve his representation,” Garcia said, per Jordan Fee-Platt of The Athletic. “Even if they’re willing to accept process. It’s a California guideline. If he’s unwilling to get served at his residence, the Beverly Hills address that’s listed on the filing, I’m going to have to have a process server serve him at Crypto.com Arena during a game. This is not going away.”
“Garcia said he has spoken with representatives from James’ legal team, including New York-based attorney Robert Strent,” reported Fee-Platt. “When he told Strent about the case’s rationale, Garcia said Strent laughed. Strent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Athletic.”
A tough week for LeBron James
Soon after the Hennessy advertisement backfired in spectacular fashion, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania announced that James would be out of the lineup for the first 3-4 weeks of the upcoming 2025-26 season due to injury. While this may allow Lakers fans to see the full version of Luka Doncic for the first time since he joined the team, it's not the update fans were hoping for to open up the season.
Making matters worse for the Lakers is that their opening stretch of the season isn't exactly an easy one, featuring games against the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves on two separate occasions.
In any case, the game against the Warriors will take place on October 21.
