Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo says going up against Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is always special since he used to look up to The King.

The Bucks host the Lakers on Thursday in a potential Finals preview. The two teams are tied for the best record in the NBA.

Giannis, the reigning MVP, says it can be difficult for him to put his childhood love for LeBron away when he's facing James, but that it's gotten easier as he's become a superstar in the NBA:

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“When I was 12 years old and starting to play basketball, he was 22 leading his team to the Finals,” Antetokounmpo told Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Like I was 12, he was 22 and I looked up to him for a lot of years. It’s hard to get that shit out of your system whenever you’re playing.”

“LeBron is in the same category as Kobe, Jordan, KG, Tim Duncan. Whenever you see them, you’re like – you’re not starstruck, but you have so much respect for them. But that’s gotta go away. I’m not going to lie, I’m a big fan of LeBron, but it’s a different scenario now. It’s all about getting the job done. For me, it’s all about going out there and nowadays, it doesn’t really matter if I play against LeBron or my best friend or whoever I play against, I’m just going to try to do the best that I can do, the best to help my team win.”

Giannis is averaging 31.7 points, 12.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season for the Bucks. All eyes are going to be on The Greek Freak and The King on Thursday at Fiserv Forum.