The NBA’s King got a first-hand look at today’s king of college basketball — and he was impressed.
LeBron James — who had a front-row seat with Lakers teammate Rajon Rondo during Duke’s 81-71 victory over Virginia Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. — had nothing but praise for Blue Devils star Zion Williamson.
James said he is especially impressed with the maturity of the 18-year-old and how he responded to Scottie Pippen saying he should sit out the rest of the season to avoid injury and secure his NBA earning potential because it’s very likely he will be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
“I can relate in a sense of he’s been covered since he was in high school and everybody is trying to compare him to the next this or the next that. But the best thing I’ve noticed is he seems like a good kid. He seems like he’s got his head on straight,” James told ESPN.com. “And when they asked him about, you know, guys in our league and people who cover our league talking about, ‘If I was Zion Williamson, I would sit out for the rest of the year,’ he was like, ‘That’s [silly]. Why? I’m here to play basketball. I love to play basketball. I’m here at Duke, I’m having fun. These are my friends. I’m having a great time. Why would I sit out?’
“That’s the type of s— that strikes me,” said James, who also got a first-hand look at the incredible block Williamson made on De’Andre Hunter. “Everybody gets so caught up in the game itself. I look at the intangibles. And he seems like he has great intangibles and seems like a great kid.”
The out-of-this-world expectations at a young age and a similar all-around game aren’t the only things Williamson has in common with James.
The Duke big man, who is 6 feet 7 and 285 pounds, has a similar frame to the 6-8, 250-pound James. Like James, Williamson also is considered one of the best prospects ever to be on the NBA’s radar.
“What strikes me? His agility and his quickness,” James told the website. “For his size, how strong he is, to be able to move like the way he moves, he’s very impressive. I mean, everybody can see the athleticism. That’s obviously, that’s ridiculous. But the speed and the quickness that he moves [with] at that size is very impressive.”
James also made it clear he wasn’t trying to make a Lakers pitch to Williamson or any of the other highly touted Duke freshmen such as RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.
“A recruiting trip? I didn’t talk to anybody,” James said.
“It was a game between the [top] teams in the country,” James said, referring to his decision to jet down from Philadelphia the day before the Lakers’ 143-120 loss to the 76ers. “Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] is my guy. And the flight was 35 minutes. So, it was easy. It was easy to be able to do it. It was my first time seeing Duke play, I think, in my life. I want to go to Cameron [Indoor Stadium] someday, too, though.”
There is a chance James could be attending more games at Cameron in the future.
Duke is a team his oldest son, LeBron James Jr., could join someday. Sources told ESPN he already has received a standing scholarship offer from Krzyzewski.