How the ghosts of LeBron James and the Boston Celtics drive the Kyrie-Luka duo

LONG BEFORE THESE Mavericks were anybody’s pick to come out of the Western Conference, before they vanquished the Clippers and the Thunder and the Timberwolves to ascend to basketball’s brightest stage for the first time in 13 years, Kyrie Irving had begun to reflect on his three-year tenure with LeBron James, his stint with the Boston Celtics and how those times had changed him.

“Back then I didn’t know how to manage those personalities. I went into every day feeling like I have to be better than my teammates,” Irving told ESPN. “We were very, very competitive, and the one thing that I always instilled them when I first came there was: stop being afraid to challenge the other guys. That was something that we shared as younger players — we wanted…