Lakers star LeBron James' lame stunt hoodwinks ticket buyers

That's why ticket prices soared for the Lakers' final home game on April 12. The cheapest seats went from $82 to $580 in a day. Three hours after the announcement turned out to be a Hennessy ad, the cheapest seats have dropped to $233 on VividSeats. It's not James' responsibility to protect ticket scalpers, of course, but people who bought tickets thinking it was his final game might be sorely disappointed. Facing the tanking Jazz, there's an excellent chance James won't even play.

The stunt may reflect James' unhappiness with the Lakers

James surely got richly rewarded for the ad, though the rollout was botched when Hennessy released the ad 90 minutes ahead of the promised 12 p.m. EST announcement.

But it says something about the star's frayed relationship with his team, which traded for and extended Luka Doncic this year while only giving James a one-year deal, that he would tease fans about quitting for a liquor promotion.

Perhaps this is a subtle signal to the team from a player who has regularly used social media to deliver passive-aggressive messages. If Doncic is the new face of the franchise, then James no longer needs to give the Lakers a heads-up about his long-term plans. Especially when the Hennessy ad came the same day James was ruled out for the entire preseason.

The Lakers will be fine, and James wasn't likely to play much before the season started anyway. The only real losers are the ticket speculators, who will have to hope Ace Bailey and Walker Kessler can make the Jazz exciting to watch — though probably not worth a $500 ticket.