• by Tanya Gazdik , October 7, 2025

LeBron James has bills to pay. 

The middle-aged basketball player turned pitchman burned bridges with the entire city of Cleveland and neighboring Akron, Ohio with his decision 15 years ago to leave the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, which was hyped with a TV appearance called “The Decision.”

Now, he’s leveraging that original film with “The Second Decision,” a Hennessy VSOP ad launching a limited-edition bottle of cognac bearing his image. 

“LeBron James is the greatest player of his generation, a paradigm of consistency,” according to USA Today. “He’s a business mogul and a brand incarnate. He’s a philanthropist who has constantly lifted his community. And now, with his latest ‘Decision,’ the Los Angeles Lakers icon also just burned through some of the goodwill he had worked so carefully to cultivate.”

In a teaser Oct. 6, James declared the announcement would be "the decision of all decisions.” 

“Leading up to the announcement, speculation swirled that James could address concerns about whether he would step away from the NBA as soon as next year,” according to Fox Business. “The upcoming 2025-26 season will mark James' 23rd season in the league.”

James posted Tuesday’s announcement on his Instagram page.

“The first 25 seconds of the video is designed to mimic the original ‘The Decision’ with LeBron wearing a similar outfit and even stuttering over his own words,” according to Sneaker News. “At the 26-second mark, the advertisement begins, and LeBron fans can rest assured that Year 23 is not the final one for LeBron (at least according to this ad).”

James’ original decision was rough on Akron, Ohio  because he was one of the city’s most famous rags-to-riches fairy tales. 

“If nothing else, Los Angeles Lakers forward and Akron native LeBron James is a master of marketing,” according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “If nothing else, basing the statement on his infamous free agent move to the Miami Heat in the controversial special that came to be known as ‘The Decision’ got eyeballs. James' ‘decision of all decisions’ Instagram post has more than 1.3 million likes in less than 24 hours.”

It’s not the first time James has capitalized on his fame. 

“James and his team have always mastered the marketing game since he first signed with Nike in 2003 in a deal that was reportedly worth $87 million over seven years,” according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “He eventually signed a lifetime endorsement deal with the athletic apparel company in 2015. Partnerships through the years included both major beverage companies — Coca Cola brands, PepsiCo — auto manufacturers Kia and GMC and in the tech realm Microsoft, Intel, Samsung and Beats, an audio brand he helped to launch. One of his latest: Amazon.”