Kyrie has been holding a basketball since boarding the flight to Boston for the NBA Finals.

There are two stars who will need no introduction when the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks meet in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Dallas guard Kyrie Irving and Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis face off against their previous teams, with Irving’s split with the Celtics being even more complicated than Porzingis’ exit from the Mavericks.

Irving played two seasons in Boston and informed supporters that he intended to return to the Celtics when the 2018-19 season ended.

That did not materialise, as Irving joined the Brooklyn Nets in the summer. He has been booed every time he has played in Boston since, with an overall record of 0-10 against the Celtics.

However, a hostile environment is the last thing Irving is concerned about on the NBA’s greatest stage.

“There’s no fear out here, man,” Irving said. “It’s basketball. The fans are going to say what they’re going to say. I appreciate them and their relationship they have to the game. But it’s about the players at the end of the day.”

Dallas moved on from Porzingis at the 2022 trade deadline, shipping him to the Washington Wizards after deciding that he wasn’t the right piece to pair with star guard Luka Doncic.

“I don’t know why it didn’t work out,” Doncic said. “We were still both young. We tried to make it work, but it just didn’t work.”

Aside from history, Irving and Porzingis are primarily interested with helping their present clubs win a title for the first time in more than a decade. The Mavericks’ previous title was in 2011, and Boston hasn’t won a championship since 2008.

Just two years ago, the Celtics had a perfect opportunity to win their 18th title in franchise history, but they lost 4-2 to the perfect State Warriors in the Finals. Looking back, Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum believes there was a silver lining to falling up short.

“It was a lesson to be learned,” Tatum said. “I told myself that if I ever got the opportunity again to make it to the Finals, that (I’d) never take it for granted. Obviously, we’re here now and thankful to be here.

“I’m excited to get ready to play and have fun (Thursday).”

Dallas, on the other hand, will be appearing in the Finals for the first time since its title run 13 years ago. Irving, Markieff Morris and Derrick Jones Jr. are the only Mavericks with experience in this stage of the postseason.

“Some of us for the Mavs have been here, some of us haven’t,” said Dallas coach Jason Kidd, who was the starting point guard on the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team. “We’re going to embrace that and find a way to hopefully win a series.”

Beating the Celtics could become much more difficult depending on Porzingis’ health, as he has missed the previous ten games due to a right soleus (calf) injury. Porzingis will be ready for Game 1, but he isn’t sure if he will be at full strength.

“I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get (Thursday),” Porzingis said. “It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this.”