As the old saying goes, Father Time is undefeated. LeBron James is doing his best to try and push back against that, but the Los Angeles Lakers star will turn 38 on Friday, which begs the question: How much longer will James continue to play basketball?
James was asked about this after the Lakers fell, 112-98, to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. One of his teammates, Dennis Schröder, claimed that James said he wanted to play until he was 45, and while James pushed back against the notion that he has a number on how much longer he wants to play, he did say that “as long as my mind stays in it, I can play at this level for a minute.”
“I’m a winner and I want to win. And I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships. That has always been my passion… Playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore.”
– LeBron James pic.twitter.com/Oq01mbborx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 29, 2022
“I’m a winner, and I want to win,” James said. “I want to win and get myself a chance to win and still compete for championships, that has always been my passion, that’s always been my goal since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio. And I know it takes steps to get there, but once you get there and you know how to get there, playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore. So, we’ll see how happens and see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple of years.”
The one thing James has said is that he’d like to play alongside his eldest son, Bronny, who cannot enter the NBA until 2024 at the earliest. James said this after a loss that knocked the Lakers to 14-21 on the season, just months after he signed an extension that keeps him with the team through at least 2023-24 — his extension includes a player option for 2024-25.