LeBron James looking on.LeBron James (@KingJames Twitter)
Basketball fans are calling out Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James for his bizarre message and advertisement during the 2025 NBA Finals.

LeBron James’ Lakers were upset by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round of the playoffs, spoiling the early excitement of the Luka Doncic era. Though James’ playing future has become an annual question, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last month that the 40-year-old will “likely” exercise his $52.6 million player option for 2025-26.

Even though we’re four games into the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, James couldn’t help but put some of the spotlight on himself with a seven-second advertisement.

On his X/Twitter account, LeBron James shared an ad of himself having a fake press conference. One of the reporters asks the four-time NBA champion, “Are the retirement rumors true? What’s next?”

But the cameras cut away before he can answer, adding the element of suspense.

Basketball fans weren’t impressed with James’ decision to release the advertisement during the 2025 NBA Finals:

“LeBron starting retirement rumors about himself during the finals is a calculated move to draw attention away from the finals and put it back onto himself. If you’re wondering what NBA media will spend the next 2 days talking about…it’s not game 5,” a user wrote.

“The most attention starved human on the planet, ladies and gentlemen,” said another.

“You are the most attention-thirsty Public figure on the planet,” a fan wrote.

“He is the most insecure, narcissistic, less self-aware athlete ever,” said another.

“He’s so tiresome. I wish he’d retire,” a user wrote.

“I like the ad no doubt but the fact it was released in the middle of the Finals is ridiculous,” said another.

Unfortunately for the LeBron James haters who wish he’d retire by now, that doesn’t appear to be on the table this summer.

LeBron James Had Another Excellent 2024-25 Season

LeBron James criticizes the media for its struggles in promoting the NBA Finals, highlighting a lack of accountabilityLeBron James (Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
James continued to fight off father time in his age-40 season, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Say what you want about his love for media attention, but the man has every reason to keep playing while he’s dominating like this.