"For a while, that ate me up" - Trevor Ariza says he held a grudge against LeBron James for losing to him in high school

NBA players are the ultimate competitors, so it's unsurprising if they hold grudges against each other. For instance, 18-year veteran Trevor Ariza couldn't let go of the fact that LeBron James beat him badly in high school. He admitted he had to "put the beef down" after witnessing what The King did in 2007.

"In the 12th grade, when we played in New Jersey against Bron and them, that was the first time in my life I was like, 'Woah!' looking up to people and they're here to actually watch," said the 2009 champion on Iman Amongst Men podcast by Uninterrupted. "I mean, obviously, they came to watch Bron, but you know, we gotta play against this. So they wanna see me too. For a while, though, that ate me up because I wanna win and do well at that stage."

LeBron's 52-point performance

That game against Westchester in February 2003 was more of a showcase of The Chosen One's talent than a basketball contest. Bron's St.Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish beat Ariza's Comets pretty badly, 78-52. What's worse, James scored 52 points to Trevor's measly 12 points.

The game was out of reach by the first half. LeBron carried much of the scoring load, dropping 33 out of the team's 41 points to establish a 17-point lead by the break. The only suspense was if Bron could reach the 50-point threshold, which he did by drilling a tough fadeaway with 3:37 left.

Related: "That motherf****r just took off from the free throw line" - Tim Hardaway recalls the first time he played against LeBron James

Everything changed in 2007

At some point, the UCLA alum had to quit being salty. Ariza admitted it wasn't until four years later that he let the grudge go after seeing his former high school foe decimate the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.

"I'm gonna tell you when I put that down. I put it down when I see what he did to Detroit in the playoffs, in the NBA. That's when I was able to say… He was just super," admitted the former Los Angeles Lakers small forward.

As Trevor mentioned, that 2007 ECF performance against the Pistons was enough to turn cynics into believers. A young King scored Cleveland's last 25 points to steal a double OT Game 5 victory on the Pistons home floor. That Detroit squad held opponents to 91.8 PPG (second-best in the NBA) and ranked seventh in defensive rating (104.2). So, if grizzled veterans couldn't do anything against LeBron, how would a team of high schoolers fare?

"The best X-man"

Like the rest of the world, the Los Angeles native was in awe of the 18-year-old LeBron. The Akron native just decided to put his head down and embarrass Westchester, and they couldn't do anything about it.

"When you're playing against elite talent, You see elite things and he just was the most special out of the special players. He was like the best X-man, for real," said the 2004 second-round pick.

Ariza and LeBron later became teammates with the Lakers, but that was a forgettable chapter in the franchise's storied history. Nonetheless, he has never forgotten what LBJ did to him in high school. This time, though, it's not from a place of resentment—it's now viewed with a sense of appreciation.

Related: Trevor Ariza on the biggest lesson he learned from playing with Kobe Bryant: "He's like a boxer trying to set traps"