LeBron James has high praise for one of basketball's rising stars as he shared his thoughts on Duke sensation Zion Williamson. 

"What strikes me? His agility and his quickness," James told ESPN. "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."

The Lakers star made headlines last week when he flew to Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday to watch the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils defeat the No. 4 Cavaliers prior to Los Angeles' game against Philadelphia on Sunday.

James explained why he decided to watch the game from the stands, and insisted it wasn't any sort of recruiting trip as he sat next to his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, and Lakers teammates Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo.

"A recruiting trip? I didn't talk to anybody," James said. "They're only saying that because it's Rich. When Shaq came to see me play in high school, when A.I. came to see me play in high school, they weren't saying it was a recruiting trip then. But because it's Rich Paul and LeBron, now it's a recruitment trip.

"It was a game between the [top] teams in the country," he added. "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."

James said he could relate to the 18-year-old phenom and his quick rise to stardom, revealing he thinks Williamson is "a great kid." 

"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 said. "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."

Projected as the potential No. 1 pick in June's draft, Williamson is averaging 22 points with 9.3 rebounds while shooting 68 percent from the field through 24 games with the Blue Devils (22-2).