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

“I had a 30s decade, so I just woke up and was like, ‘Oh, damn, you’re 40?'” said James, back with the team after missing Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings while recovering from an illness. “It’s actually kind of ridiculous knowing where I am, seeing that I’m still playing the game at a high level, still such a young man but old compared to how many years I have in this profession have.”

James, who became the youngest player in league history to reach career scoring levels of 1,000 to 40,000 points, is now just the second player to play 22 seasons, tied with Hall of Famer Vince Carter.

And when he faces his former team, 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.

While James admitted that he has “of course” thought about retirement more than ever, the four-time champion – fresh off winning a gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics and becoming MVP of the tournament – said he still could play much longer should he decide to do so.

“To be honest, if I really wanted to I could probably play this game at a high level one more time or so – it’s strange that I could say that – but probably another five to seven years if I wanted to. ” said James. “But I won’t do that.”

James’ performance this season would back up that claim. He averaged 23.5 points on 49.6% shooting, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds per night while appearing in 28 of the Lakers’ 31 games.

As he approached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career goalscoring record during the 2022-23 season, James told ESPN that the last thing he hoped to achieve after scoring was to share the court with his son Bronny James.

He crossed that goal off the list on opening night this season, ending the second quarter of LA’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with Bronny, whom the Lakers selected with the No. 55 pick in the second round of June’s draft.

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

James has since told ESPN that his only 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 fourth place in the Western Conference, managed to win the title, whether that would extend his time in the NBA with a chance to win another title fight, or would he have the opportunity to leave upstairs?

“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 an interview with Jalen Hurts where he talked about the same factor, the fact that (the Eagles) are extremely good this year and had you ever thought about coming back and maybe not retiring go? From.” Of course (he did). But he is very happy with the decision he made.

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 anyone in the league. Are we at championship level? Can we win a championship now? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have so much room for improvement.” …. I don’t know if that will determine whether I stay longer because it doesn’t change my career in any way.”

While James wasn’t sure what the Lakers’ chances of winning the championship are right now, he was more adamant that the franchise is the last one he’ll play for.

“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 to end it here. But I’m not stupid either…(not) knowing that.” But I think my relationship with this organization speaks for itself and I hope I don’t have to go anywhere before my career is over.