LeBron James no longer have to worry about having to appear in small claims court more than hundreds of dollars a Lakers fan spent on tickets although he was under the impression that the superstar player was retiring at the end of the season.
Norwalk resident Andrew Garcia filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court to dismiss without prejudice a lawsuit he filed earlier this month to get his money back after the bombshell announcement James teased on social media ultimately had nothing to do with his NBA career, which is now approaching its 23rd season and coming to an end.
On Monday, Garcia said he decided to drop the case after accepting an offer from fantasy sports app PrizePicks. According to filings reviewed by The Times, the company deposited $865.66 in promotional funds — the full amount Garcia spent on two tickets to the Lakers' game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 31, 2026 — into Garcia's PrizePicks account.
Garcia said he would be able to cash out any winnings from those transactions. Additionally, he said, PrizePicks will give him tickets to a Lakers game of his choice and some other merchandise.
“I didn't have to close the case” to get the deal from PrizePicks, Garcia said, “but I decided to do it because I thought, well, you guys are totally compensating me for my losses and then some. There's no reason for me to keep doing this because then it'll look like I'm falling twice, you know?”
PrizePicks Vice President of Communications Elisa Richardson confirmed the deal in an email to The Times.
“We reached out to Andrew after seeing the news and learning he was a PrizePicks player,” Richardson wrote. “We are always looking for ways to surprise and delight our players.”
October 6 James posted on social media that he would announce a “solution to all decisions” the next day. The NBA's all-time leading scorer also included a video clip teasing “Second Decision,” a reference to the 2010 film.Solution“, in which James announced his intention to play for the Miami Heat.
Garcia wasn't the only person who thought a retirement announcement was imminent, and he also wasn't the only one who wanted to make sure to see James on his farewell tour. According to Victory Live, which analyzes verified secondary market ticket resale data, ticket sales for Lakers games jumped 25-fold after James' teaser was released, with the average price of those tickets rising from $280 to $399.
Ticket sales and prices returned to normal shortly after it was revealed that the “Second Solution” was nothing more than Hennessy advertising. In his lawsuit, Garcia alleged that James owes him the amount he paid for the tickets due to “fraud, deception, misrepresentation and any basis of legal collection.”
