10 under-the-radar facts about Birthday Boy Kyrie Irving

#2 He is the only current point guard to appear in the All-Star game in his second NBA season

NBA All-Star Game 2014

Players like Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul are arguably better overall point guards than the Celtics #11. Even John Wall, Mike Conley, and Kyle Lowry are generally recognized as better two-way point guards than Irving, whose defensive attitude has been questioned in the past before he mended his ways in a Celtics defense that ranks #1 in the league this season.

But none of these aforementioned were making the kind of waves Irving has since his rookie season. Irving's first season was better than either of Wall's first two. Curry hadn't made a single game-winner by that time. Westbrook had a long way to go before becoming the scoring-playmaking threat he is today. Conley and Lowry were late bloomers.

Only Chris Paul had a shot at becoming an All-Star in his second season, but the sheer level of competition among Western Conference guards meant that he missed the cut.