Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors had some epic battles in the NBA Finals with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Wednesday, Kerr reflected on the four-year rivalry with James and the Cavaliers.

“I think when I was a player, being involved in the Finals, I felt that same intensity walking out onto the floor. I think what made this one unique was just that it was the same two teams four years in a row which has never happened in the history of the game and it was LeBron. You're talking about one of the all-time greats.

“Maybe this is what other teams felt like when I was with the Bulls and they were playing us. You know you walk onto the floor and look down and see Michael Jordan and you know you have to find a way to win the game.

“We had some amazing battles and I will always have great memories and great respect for Ty (Lue) and his staff and those teams. They were unbelievably competitive and compelling games and I'm glad to have been a part of it.”

When asked about whether or not the intensity dissipates without LeBron James, Steve Kerr believes that the rivalry has lost a lot of its original intensity.

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“Oh, for sure. That stuff generally dissipates over time, but I think in this case it's an entirely new cast of characters, especially with Kevin Love out and J.R.'s status. We're gonna look down and see Tristan Thompson and I don't know. I'm not sure we're going to see anyone who was a really prominent piece of these last four years. It seems like everybody's gone including Ty so it's an entirely different — it's not a rivalry. It's just another game and they're on their new course trying to build something and we're trying to continue our run for as long as we can.”

Anyone trying to pass this game off as a rivalry is delusional. As Steve Kerr points out, this is a completely different Cavaliers roster and without LeBron James, there really is no Warriors-Cavs rivalry. Kudos to Kerr for speaking candidly about the situation rather than trying to pass this game off as something it's not.