Kyrie Irving’s injury is a minor facial fracture, and he will wear a face mask for 2 weeks

Kyrie Irving suffered a minor facial fracture in the Celtics’ Friday win over the Hornets and will likely miss Sunday’s game against the Raptors, according to Yahoo’s Shams Charania.

But the All-Star guard won’t be out for long. Instead, Irving will wear a fitted face mask for two weeks while he stares down defenders before splicing through them with his unrivaled handles.

Irving left Friday’s game after an inadvertent hit from teammate Aron Baynes sent the point guard to the ground. His head began bleeding, and he was sent to the locker room for the concussion protocol.

Irving was later diagnosed with a minor facial fracture. It’s not the first time he’s had such an injury.

After breaking his jaw in Dec. 2012, he returned in a black mask to hang a then career-high 41 points on the Knicks. He will eventually return to action for the Celtics, rejoining a list of NBA stars to grace an NBA floor in a face mask.

Broken facial bones are a rare byproduct of the physical nature of basketball, and it happens to some of the best.

In 2015, Russell Westbrook took an elbow to the face that fractured his left cheekbone. In his first game with the new gear, he hung a 49-point triple-double in an overtime win over the 76ers.

In 2014, Serge Ibaka inadvertently struck LeBron James in the face and broke his nose while driving to the rack. LeBron sat out a week then returned to action with a black carbon fiber mask before dropping 31 points in a win over the Knicks.

Dwyane Wade accidentally broke Kobe Bryant’s nose in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, so for the second time in his career, Bryant wore a face mask in a game. Kobe’s response in his first game back was to put up 38 points in a win against Minnesota.

Danny Green accidentally elbowed Chris Paul in the nose in a March 9, 2012 game between the Clippers and Spurs. Paul finished that game with 36 points (on 60 percent shooting, mind you), 11 assists, and four steals in a 12-point win and subsequently rocked a mask for a few weeks.

These stars aren’t the only players to rock a face mask in their playing careers. Tracy McGrady, Rip Hamilton, Joe Johnson, Bill Laimbeer, Andrei Kirilenko, Manu Ginobili, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Alonzo Mourning have each worn protective gear to keep them on the floor after a facial injury.

This isn’t Irving’s first rodeo with a mask, and the last time he had a facial injury, he dropped 41 points on his opponent. And if he only misses Sunday’s game and returns for Boston’s matchup against Brooklyn, the Nets could be in for a rough time guarding a player with Irving’s handles.