LeBron James turns 40; could play 5-7 more years ‘if I wanted to’

LOS ANGELES – LeBron James celebrated his 40th birthday on Dec 30 by practising with the Los Angeles Lakers and chatting with reporters about where he stands in his Hall of Fame career.

James – the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to score 40,000 points, the second to play 22 seasons (joining Vince Carter) and the first to play alongside his son – feels he still has more in the tank, but the desire to keep going is another thing.

“To be honest, if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level probably for about another – it’s weird that I might say this – but probably about another five to seven years, if I wanted to,” James said.

“But I’m not going to do that.”

He was addressing a question about his eventual retirement and what factors will come into play.

“It won’t be because I can’t play this game at a high level,” James replied.

While keeping details sparse, he said that he “of course” considered retirement more than ever and he wants to conclude his career with the Lakers, where he has now played for seven seasons.

“I came here to play my last stage of my career and finish it off here, but I’m also not silly or too jaded to know the business of the game as well, to know the business of basketball,” James said.

“But my relationship with this organisation speaks for itself and, hopefully, I don’t have to go nowhere before my career is over.”

James joined the Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 and led Los Angeles to a championship inside the biosecure Covid-19 “bubble” in 2020.

He surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the league’s all-time leading scorer in February 2023 and this season teamed up with his son Bronny to become the first father-son duo to play on the same NBA team together.

He also played at a high level on the international stage last summer, helping the United States win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and being named tournament Most Valuable Player in the process.

He has averaged 23.5 points, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game over 28 games this season. The assist average is the third-highest of his career.

It is coming full circle for James, as the first opponent he will face as a 40-year-old will be the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he made his NBA debut as a 19-year-old and played 11 total seasons, winning one of his four NBA titles. The Cavs visit the Lakers on Dec 31 (Jan 1, Singapore time).

Tributes to the Akron, Ohio native on his birthday poured in from teammates past and present, competitors, coaches and more.

“I had a decade of the 30s, so to just wake up and just be like, ‘Oh shoot, oh damn, you’re 40’?” James cracked.

“It’s kind of laughable, really, to know where I am, to see where I am still playing the game at a high level, still being such a young man but old in the scheme of how many years I got in this profession.” AFP, REUTERS