Steve Kerr knows all about how hard it is to make the NBA finals both as a player and a coach and he knows the work that goes into it. He played along side Michael Jordan and saw first hand what it took for MJ to accomplish great things, so when he heaps praise like this on Lebron, it comes from someone who knows what he’s talking about.

@IamJoeSports

Kerr has matched up against Lebron the past two years in the finals and with the way Bron almost single handedly beat the Warriors in 2015, followed up by his performance this past finals when the Cavs won, it made Kerr respect him even more.

Winning the title the year before, and then following that up with a 73-win regular season only to fall to the Cavs, took a lot out of the Warriors.

“The toll was more emotional than anything,” Kerr said Friday, according to ESPN’s J.A. Adande. “Over time, that stuff adds up. That’s why LeBron going to The Finals six straight years is, to me, one of the great accomplishments of all time. Like, how many guys have done that. Maybe Bill Russell was the last guy. I know Michael (Jordan) didn’t do it because he took a couple of years off. Larry Bird, Magic never did it. …

“Six is incredible.”

With the way the east looks at the moment, Lebron could wind up playing in 8, maybe even 9 straight finals, which would be unheard of. The Raptors, Pacers, Celtics and others will do their best to prevent that but the odds are against them, not Bron. That would of course mean more finals matchups between Kerr the coach and Bron the player because nobody in the west looks like they have any chance of competing with the Warriors.

Bill Russell made the finals every year from 1959-1966 but since then nobody has matched that.