Lonzo Ball has always stated that LeBron James is his favorite player in the NBA and looked up to him while he was growing up.

For the first time in his pro career, the Los Angeles Lakers rookie will now fulfill a lifelong dream and compete against his idol form Cleveland.

The Lakers will take on the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night to end a four-game east coast road trip and Ball's first encounter with LeBron has already dominated the pre-game headlines.

On a number of occasions already this season, James has praised Lonzo's abilities despite the young point guard receiving heavy criticism for many of his performances this year. 

Ahead of the first showdown between the two, the four-time MVP reiterated his admiration for the UCLA product and explained one thing he has been hugely impressed with about him. 

"The kid hasn't said anything," James told ESPN when asked about the hype surrounding Ball. "It's been everybody else. So, I love his humility. He goes out, every time someone asks him a question, he says, 'This is not about me, man. I just want to win. I don't care about what I did.' I seen he had a triple-double one game and they lost. He was like, 'I don't care. We lost.'"

The Cavs superstar sees similarities between his rookie year in the league and Ball's and believes he will be a success in the NBA.

"Can I draw any parallel to my experience? I mean, of course. I guess when you're drafted to a franchise, they want you to kind of be the savior. And it takes a while," he said.

"I mean, listen, man, this guy is 20-something games into his pro career. S--- doesn't happen [that fast]. Here it goes again, it goes back to my instant oatmeal [quote]: Everybody wants it right away. Can he play ball? Absolutely. The kid can play ball.

"Do guys want to play with him? Absolutely, because it's a guy who is not about him. It's about the success of the team. And he gives the ball up, and he passes the ball, and there's energy behind the ball."

Los Angeles is currently 10-16 but by comparison, LBJ's Cavaliers team was 7-19 through their first 26 games. 

Ball has struggled mightily in terms of shooting this year as he's currently averaging a field goal percentage of 32.1 and 24.6 percent from three-point range. 

James, however, still expects the youngster to forge a great career but he won't be exchanging pleasantries once they hit the court as he'll aim to inflict a loss on the Lakers and keep the Wine and Gold's impressive recent run going.