At 40, LeBron says he could play at a high level for 5 to 7 more years — but won’t

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The gray in LeBron James’ beard was unmistakable as he addressed reporters on his 40th birthday Monday after Los Angeles Lakers practice.

“I had a decade of 30s, so to just wake up and just be like, ‘Oh shoot, oh shit, you’re 40?'” said James, back with the team after missing Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, while he recovered. from an illness. “It’s really funny to know where I’m at, to see where I’m still playing the game at a high level, to still be such a young man but old in the scheme of how many years I got in this trade.”

James, who was the youngest player in league history to reach the 1,000 to 40,000 career point milestones, is now just the second player to play 22 seasons, tying Hall of Famer Vince Carter.

And when he meets his former team in the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, he will become just the 32nd player to appear in an NBA game in his 40s, according to ESPN Research.

Although James admitted he has “obviously” considered retirement more than ever, the four-time champion — fresh off a gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics and winning tournament MVP — said he could play much longer, should he choose to.

“To be honest, if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level, probably for about another – it’s strange that I can say this – but probably about five to seven more years if I wanted to ,” James said. “But I’m not going to do that.”

James’ production this season would support that claim. He is averaging 23.5 points on 49.6% shooting, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds while appearing in 28 of the Lakers’ 31 games.

As he approached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record during the 2022-23 campaign, James told ESPN that the last goal he hoped to achieve after the scoring feat would be to share the court with his son, Bronny James.

He accomplished that goal on opening night this season, closing out the second quarter of LA’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with Bronny, the Lakers’ No. 1 pick. 55 in the second round of June’s draft.

“You came in as an 18-year-old kid and now you’re sitting here as a 40-year-old, 22-year-old vet with a 20-year-old in the NBA, too,” James said Monday. “So, that’s pretty cool.”

James has since told ESPN that his last remaining motivation is the chance to compete for a fifth championship.

James was asked if the Lakers, who are currently just 1½ games out of the No. 4 in the Western Conference, won the title, it would have him continue to play with a chance to compete for another or free him to go. away at the top?

“You ask that question, the first person I thought of was Jason Kelce,” James said, referring to the former Philadelphia Eagles center who now works as an NFL analyst for ESPN. “Earlier this year he had a sit-down (interview) with (Eagles quarterback) Jalen Hurts and talked about the same factor, the fact that (the Eagles are) extremely good this year, and have you had the thought of coming back and maybe not retire of course (he has).

As for the Lakers?

“Right now I think we’re a very good team,” James said. “I think we have a chance to compete with anybody in the league. Are we at a championship level? Can we win a championship right now? No, I don’t think so. But it’s good because we have so much room for improvement.

“I don’t know if it determines whether I stay any longer because it doesn’t change my career in any way or way.”

Although James was uncertain about the Lakers’ championship chances, he was more firm in his belief that he will not play for another franchise.

“That’s the plan,” James said. “I would love it to end here. That would be the plan. I came here to play the last stage of my career and finish it here. But I’m not stupid either … (not) knowing But I think ​​that my relationship with this organization speaks for itself, and hopefully I will not go anywhere until my career is over.