Matt Barrie isn’t scoring any points with LeBron James anytime soon.
The veteran ESPN reporter was the latest to pile on James for his “The Decision 2.0” publicity stunt that wound up being a lame advertisement for Hennessy. Just moments after news broke that the Los Angeles Lakers star would miss 3-4 weeks to begin the season with an injured sciatic nerve, Barrie wasted no time getting one over on the four-time MVP.
Matt Barrie suggests that LeBron James should “rub some Hennessy” on his injured sciatic nerve. pic.twitter.com/Ixp1Sw8DZh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 9, 2025
“Hey Christine, I have an idea. Maybe he can rub some Henessy on it and everything will be fine,” Barrie said during Thursday evening’s SportsCenter.
“You know what, Matt? You would say something like that,” host Christine Williamson replied.
“‘Cause that was the big story!” Barrie said, alluding to James’ publicity stunt.
“Hey, I don’t know about rubbing it on it, but if he takes a few shots maybe it wouldn’t hurt!” Williamson joked.
The jokes truly write themselves.
Unfortunately for the NBA and its new broadcast partners, NBC and Amazon, it will be about a month into the season before either will get the viewership boost commensurate with a LeBron James appearance. In the meantime, his absence will leave all the room in the world for more Hennessy jokes.
One can only hope the spirit company compensated him well for that one, as James is taking plenty of incoming over the entire ordeal. After all, you can only do “The Decision 2.0” one time. “The Decision 3.0” won’t have nearly the same fanfare for whatever poor company wants to shell out for that one.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.