LeBron James celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday, December 30. In his 22nd season in the league, the Los Lakers superstar says he still has more left in the tank, ESPN reports.
Speaking to reporters after the Lakers practice on Monday, James reflected on his remarkable career.
“I had a decade of the 30s, so to just wake up and just be like, ‘Oh shoot, oh damn, you’re 40?’” James said. “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.”
This season, James made history by becoming the first father and son duo to play on the same team when Bronny James made his NBA debut. As he is playing at an all-star level, James said he could play a few more years in the league.
“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.”
James’ play this year is backing up his talk. So far this season, he’s averaging 23.5 points on 49.6% shooting, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds. He’s also appeared in 28 out of the Lakers’ 31 games.
According to James, his dream would be to ride off into the sunset and retire as a Laker.
“That’s the plan. I would love for it to end here. That would be the plan,
James explained. “I came here to play the last stage of my career and to finish it off here. But I’m also not silly … [not] to know the business of basketball. But I think my relationship with this organization speaks for itself. And hopefully, I don’t gotta go nowhere before my career is over.”
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