New Delhi, Dec 31
LeBron James, a player who has dominated the National Basketball Association (NBA) for two decades, turned 40 years old on Monday. While still being a top-ten player in the league, he reflected on his unprecedented career and claimed he could still play at a high level for another five to seven years.
"To just wake up and just be like, ‘Oh shoot, oh damn, you’re 40?. 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," James was quoted saying by The Athletic at Lakers practice.
“If I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level for about another - it’s weird that I might say this - but probably about another five to seven years, if I wanted to. But I’m not going to do that. I would miss the hell out of (basketball), for sure. But no, I won’t walk away and come back,” James said.
LeBron entered the league as an 18-year-old in 2002, directly from high school, and joined his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. After entering as one of the biggest rookie prospects in the league history, he has dominated the game for 22 years, a feat that has never been accomplished in any sport.
The 40-year-old has won four NBA titles and played for three teams in his career- the Cavs, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers - and believes that he will not be adding to that tally as he plans on retiring as a Laker.
"I think that’s the plan. I would love for it to end here. 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 organisation speaks for itself. And hopefully, I don’t got to go anywhere before my career is over," he added.
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired via trade forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets. In return, the Lakers sent guard D'Angelo Russell, forward Maxwell Lewis and three future second-round draft picks to the Nets. Although LeBron was honest about his team’s status as championship contenders, he believes the recent trade can further bolster the side.
"Right now, I think we’re a very good team. 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 that’s good because we have so much room for improvement, and we just added two new guys as well in DoeDoe (Dorian-Finney Smith) and Shake (Milton). So we’ll see how we incorporate those guys. That should be fun as well. I’m happy that they’re here," he concluded.