Kyrie Irving (born March 23, 1992) is an Australian-American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played as a point guard for Duke University as a freshman before being selected as the 1st overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by Cleveland. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2012. Irving was born in Melbourne and grew up in New Jersey.

Irving was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia where his father, Drederick Irving, played professional basketball for the Bulleen Boomers. Irving subsequently lived in Australia before relocating to the United States at the age of 2. He has dual citizenship in the United States and Australia. Irving's mother, Elizabeth, died from an illness when he was four, so Drederick raised him with the help of Irving's aunts. Growing up in New Jersey, Irving was a fan of the New Jersey Nets. His father took him and his sister to Continental Airlines Arena during the 2003 NBA Finals.

Irving played for Montclair Kimberley Academy his freshman and sophomore years, where he averaged 26.5 points, 10.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 steals and became only the school's 2nd 1,000 point scorer, before transferring to St. Patrick. While at St. Patrick High School, Irving played with Michael Gilchrist, who was widely regarded as one of the best players in the class of 2011. On January 20, 2010, it was announced that Irving was selected to the 2010 Junior National Select Team. The team played at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, on April 10. He was also selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game and the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic, where he was named as co-mvp with Harrison Barnes. In June 2010 Irving was a part of the gold medal winning team at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Irving was the #2 player in the class of 2010 by Scout.com, #3 player in the ESPNU 100, and rated as the #4 player by Rivals.com.