Most of us were not thrilled about LeBron’s ‘second decision’ head-spinner. Those who were relieved he’s not retiring yet were still frozen in cringe. Who was not swept in the wild emotions LeBron James elicited in a series of posts? Gilbert Arenas, the fair weather bandwagoner. It was predictable he wasn’t going to turn on Bron despite the backlash. Arenas is staying on theme with his loyalty to James and the Lakers. The collateral is #23.

As he always, always, does, Arenas brings Michael Jordan into the mix when he comes to Bron’s defense. And defend he did.

After 22 years in the league, entering year 23 at age 40, and growing the sport, Arenas insists that King James has earned the right to do an over-the-top ad campaign for the bag. Considering the fact, he’s not the only one. “It’s year 23, I mean goddamn, like what are you expecting that you didn’t expect from the rest of your GOATs?” Arenas said on Gil’s Arena. “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, right? MJ. You was just happy they made it to the gym. Let alone trained and got on the court and actually put in work.”

Kareem and MJ also played into their early ’40s. Bron has two more years to catch up with the Lakers legend in this record too. “So, the fact that he’s done 22 years of promoting the NBA and then you get mad cuz he promotes himself for… come on man.”

Kareem, Jordan, and most NBA players have done promotions for the entirety of their careers as Arenas pointed out, “Everybody mad at Bron for promoting Hennessy in year 23 like MJ didn’t have Hanes, Gatorade, and cigars in rotation. Greatness don’t clock out. Bron just adding bottles to the legacy.”

To be fair, promoting alcoholic brands was a taboo in the NBA decades ago, as Allen Iverson recently pointed out when he defended LeBron too. So is bringing Jordan’s endorsement history in the mix even valid?

Michael Jordan and LeBron James’ shared legacy isn’t the problem

Michael Jordan’s Hanes partnership began in 1989 and quietly ran its course in 2021. It remains one of the longest athlete-brand relationships in history, second to the Jumpman’s legacy with Nike and Gatorade. A marketing juggernaut since he arrived in 1984, MJ has earned an estimated $2 billion in endorsements alone (Nike reportedly makes up 75% of it).

The only other basketball player to achieve that level of marketability is Shaquille O’Neal according to an industry study on how many Americans recognize the personality. LeBron James and Stephen Curry are still nowhere close to Tiger Woods and Simon Biles who are also high up on the list. Considering there’s nothing that Shaq won’t sell (according to Charles Barkley), James gets the same grace.

Gil’s Arena co-host, Nick Young would agree with Arenas. He had explicitly called out Stephen A. Smith for his reaction to the Hennessy ad.

To be fair, no one’s saying James shouldn’t endorse Hennessy – a legacy of bottles, as Gil’s phrases it. They’re mad about James using the cultural impact of ‘The Decision’ from 2010 when he joined the Miami Big 3, hitting accurately into fan sentiments, and ending the retirement assumptions so anticlimactically. That’s 90% of the Internet. The others are just mad about spending thousands on his presumed final Lakers game.

Most NBA players didn’t exactly fall for it. The reactions from the likes of Danny Green emphasized the fact that Bron wouldn’t announce his retirement after two decades in such a nonchalant fashion. That’s why Arenas has the experience to claim that we should’ve seen another bottle ad from an NBA player coming.

But Jordan and Kareem didn’t create a storm of emotions on X. That’s one more thing LeBron James has over them.