LeBron James marked his 40th birthday on Monday, reflecting on his remarkable career and expressing optimism about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.
When asked how he’ll know it’s time to retire, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer offered a candid take on his game.
"To be honest, if I really wanted to, I could probably play at a high level for another five or seven years," James said. "But I'm not going to do that."
With one of the longest careers in NBA history, James is well aware that his time is winding down. However, retirement isn’t imminent: He remains a dominant presence for the Pacific Division-leading Lakers, averaging 23.5 points, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds this season.
"It's kind of laughable, really, to know where I am, to see where I am still, playing the game at a high level," James said. "Still being such a young man, but old in the scheme of how many years I've got in this profession. (I) just think back to when I came into the league. That's like the first thing I thought about. You came in as an 18-year-old kid, and now you're sitting here as a 40-year-old, a 22-year vet, with a 20-year-old in the NBA as well. It's pretty cool."
James is already in his 22nd NBA season – more than any player except Vince Carter, who also played 22 seasons – and he will join the slightly larger list of NBA players to suit up after their 40th birthdays on Tuesday night when the Lakers host the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Akron, Ohio, native won Cleveland's only major pro sports championship with the Cavs in 2016.
James said he reacted to his milestone birthday with a disbelief familiar to anyone whose life odometer has rolled over to a number they still haven't processed.
"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 with a grin.
James said he felt the march of time two months ago when he and his son, Bronny, became the first father and son to play in the NBA together.
LeBron is also encouraged by a solid season so far with the Lakers, who have looked livelier in their first year under new coach JJ Redick. Los Angeles got tougher and deeper Sunday when it traded D'Angelo Russell to Brooklyn for veteran wing defender Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton.
"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. That's good because we have so much room to improve, and we also just added two new guys as well. We'll see how we incorporate those guys. It should be fun as well. But we'll see. I don't know if that determines if I stick around longer because it doesn't change my career in any sense or fashion."
James also doesn't think beyond Los Angeles, where he has settled into a comfortable California life with his family since 2018. He still expects the Lakers to be his final stop whenever he decides to close his epic career.
"I would love for it to end here," James said. "That would be the plan. I came here to play the last stage of my career and to 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. But I think my relationship with this organization speaks for itself."
