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LeBron says body feels 19, Lues compares him to Benjamin Button

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Most players are winding down their careers entering their 14th season, but somehow LeBron James feels better than ever.

With more career minutes in his ledger than Allen Iverson, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, the 31-year-old James continues to make the game look effortless.

The King dropped a triple-double on opening night with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists while throwing down six highlight dunks - just one short of his career-best mark for most jams in a game.

"I feel great," James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I feel great, man. I feel better than I felt at 19. Nineteen, I didn't know my body. I didn't know that ... you can do things at 19 that you obviously can't do at 31, but as far as being in shape and putting in all the training I put in during the season, I feel like I picked up right where I left off. I mean, I'm in a good groove so far."

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue even wondered if James was somehow getting younger.

"He had a chance to get tested this summer and they said he had a body of a 19-year-old," Lue said. "Maybe he’s getting younger: Benjamin Button. I don't know. Who knows?"

The Cavaliers, however, would be wise to keep James' energy bottled until the postseason when he makes his bid for a seventh-straight Finals appearance. The regular season is elementary for James at this point - he needs to be at his best when it really counts during the playoffs.

Like, for example, when James became the first-ever player to lead the NBA Finals in points, blocks, assists, and steals, while leading the Cavaliers to a 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors.

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