LeBron’s Billion-Dollar Hennessy Decision: Retirement or Promo?
LeBron James, the Akron kid turned NBA 19-time All-Star and scoring king, has turned basketball into a nearly half-billion dollar side hustle, earning $479.5M in salaries and $126.9M in endorsements like AT&T, Kia, and Beats by Dre—which he showered upon his entire Ohio State football team for $350 a pop. Recently, at 41, despite a cryptic ‘The Decision 2.0’ teaser that ended up just a Hennessy ad, LeBron inked a $97M Lakers deal for 2023-24, pushing his career earnings to a staggering $532M. Meanwhile, Nike built him a whole Innovation Center, because why settle for shoes when you can have a building branded with your face? Retirement? Maybe next promo.
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LeBron’s WWE-level ‘Decision’ comeback turned out to be a Hennessy ad. Retirement’s on hold because apparently, being a billionaire athlete means signing $97M contracts and gifting an entire football team headphones. Guess driveway car collections don’t maintain themselves.
LeBron’s retirement hints hit harder than his commercials: all teaser, no buzzer. Meanwhile, Nike builds him an entire building while the rest of us struggle to fill a shoebox.
King James signing lifetime Nike deals and off-court headphone giveaways is proof that being a billionaire athlete is just a full-time marketing campaign with occasional basketball.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 10/7/2025 | Author: Cork Gaines,Scott Davis,Meredith Cash,Brent D. Griffiths
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