The NBA’s best player is not retiring anytime soon, but he has an idea when that might be.Reigning MVP and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recently opened up in an interview with GQ, discussing how long he sees himself playing and what his ultimate goals are. GQ’s senior style editor, Yang-Yi Goh, asked the Oklahoma City Thunder star if he plans on playing until he’s 40, like LeBron James and Chris Paul.“I definitely think I can,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I won’t, though. A hundred per cent.”Gilgeous-Alexander pointed to his son as the reason he does not want to be playing forever.“I won’t want to miss that much of my kid’s life,” Gilgeous-Alexander explained. “I won’t want to be away and miss his first basketball game every year, his first soccer game, football game, piano lesson, chess lesson, whatever it is.“And there’s a certain point in your career where you reach your peak. I don’t fault guys for still playing. They love the game. But I just feel like I play this game, ultimately, to see what the best version of me can be.“Once I figure that out and I start going down, then it’s like, ‘Okay, well, what am I playing for now?’ As soon as that happens, I’ll be on the first ship out.”Goh asked if that means he will be done playing in his mid-30s.“There’s no telling,” the 27-year-old superstar said. “But I promise you it won’t be 40.”Gilgeous-Alexander said he wants to be the best player he can possibly be. Whether that ultimately elevates him onto the Mount Rushmore of all-time NBA greats remains to be seen.But he’s well on his way.SGA spearheaded the Thunder and won Finals MVP this past seasonGettySGA had one of the greatest guard seasons everGetty“I pick up a basketball to be the best. If you’re asking me if I want to be better than Kobe, of course I do,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Whether I get there or not, we’ll find out.”By the end of his age-26 season, Gilgeous-Alexander arguably boasts a stronger resume than Bryant had at the same point. While Bryant didn’t earn his first MVP until age 29 and had to wait until age 30 to claim his first Finals MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander secured both honors during his age-26 campaign.He led OKC to their first-ever championship and cemented his individual season as one of the best ever.Over 76 regular-season games, he averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game, shooting 51.9 per cent from the field, 37.5 per cent from three-point range, and 89.8 per cent from the free-throw line.Gilgeous-Alexander became only the second player in NBA history, after Michael Jordan, to average at least 30 points per game on 50 per cent shooting, along with five rebounds, five assists, 1.5 steals, and one block per game.His 32.7 points per game were the highest for any player in NBA history who won a championship that season, surpassing Michael Jordan’s 32.6 points per game in 1992–93.NBA's GreatestGreatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor WembanyamaBest players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurusMichael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totalsOnly Gilgeous-Alexander, Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have won the MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring title in the same season. The Canadian-born star added his name to a list of legends.Bryant, of course, holds the edge in championships at this stage of their careers—with the Los Angeles Lakers great having three titles, while Gilgeous-Alexander has one.Bryant would go on to win two more championships, bringing his total to five. Gilgeous-Alexander still has a long way to go if he wants to match or surpass Bryant’s ring count.There’s still a long way to go until SGA turns 40, and until then, he’s only going to close the gap between himself and the game’s all-time greats.