Kyrie Irving Gave ‘Strong Consideration’ to the Knicks Before Committing to Celtics

Kyrie Irving and the Celtics escaped New York last night, leaving Madison Square Garden with a 103-101 victory. Irving finished the game with 16 points and 5 assists, scoring 6 big points in the fourth quarter.

Irving, who is set to be a free agent this summer, has been linked to the Knicks. He spoke after the game about his connection to New York. Here’s his full quote, via ESPN:

“I mean, every team was under consideration, but obviously New York held a special place for me. Just being from (New) Jersey and, obviously, envisioning myself as a free agent and ultimately taking a meeting and playing for (Knicks head coach David Fizdale) and a great young core that they have here. Thinking about playing with (Kristaps Porzingis). That was a big thing before I made my decision just to … plan on re-signing back with Boston. But yeah of course New York was a strong consideration.”

“I think if you were in my position, I think it would be an easy decision,” Irving said of his decision to commit to the Celtics. “Thinking about who we have (in Boston) and the future and what we’re set up for. For me, it was where I am in age and how I envision my career going. And kind of the lineage of guys that have come before me in the Boston Celtics is something I wanted to be a part of. Obviously, my dad and my mom met in Boston, so I had a lot of history there, as well. Obviously, being from New Jersey, (there’s) history there. But Boston, there’s nothing like it.”

Irving recently announced his intentions to stay with the Celtics.

h/t ESPN