Why LeBron James, on his 40th birthday, said he could play 5 to 7 more years but won't

LeBron James woke up Monday on his 40th birthday and decided the situation in which he finds himself to be both "laughable" and "pretty cool."

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is the oldest player on an NBA roster this season and still among the league's most productive forces on the court. It's a distinction James pondered as he faced questions from reporters for the first time since the Lakers' front office traded De'Angelo Russell and Maxwell Christie to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. So naturally, given this latest milestone, James was eventually asked about future retirement plans, whether they've changed at all and what might prompt him to end his NBA career.

The topic prompted him to speak in terms only Tom Brady has in recent years.

IN DEPTH: LeBron James turns 40. It's been a stunning, stupendous, brilliant life lived.

"It won't be because I can't play this game at a high level," James said about retiring. "It won't be because of that because, to be honest, if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level for about another – it's weird I might say this – but I've got another five to seven years if I wanted to. But I'm not going to do that."

Brady, of course, famously said he wanted to play in the NFL until he was 45 years old and then accomplished that goal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. James, on the other hand, seemed to shut down any thought of something like that with his comments on Monday.

James is averaging 23.5 points, nine assists and 7.9 rebounds per game in his 22nd NBA season and the Lakers sit in fifth place in the Western Conference standings heading into Monday's games. In this year's season opener, he and Bronny James became the NBA's first father-son duo to play together.

But while LeBron James was only willing to offer a few hints about his mindset concerning retirement, the four-time MVP and NBA champion was much more direct when asked if the end of his career would occur wearing a Lakers' jersey.

"I think that's the plan. I would love for it to end here," James told reporters. "I came here to play my last stage of my career and 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 my relationship with this organization speaks for itself and hopefully I don't have to go nowhere before my career is over."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James: 'Plan' is to end NBA career with Los Angeles Lakers