Kyrie Irving admitted he considered joining the Knicks before committing to re-sign with the Celtics earlier this month.
After Boston's 103-101 victory over the Knicks, the 26-year-old guard said New York is a "special place" and he thought about what it would be like to play with a young core under Knicks coach David Fizdale.
“I mean, every team was under consideration, but obviously New York held a special place for me,” Irving told reporters. “Just being from [New] Jersey and envisioning myself as a free agent and ultimately taking a meeting and playing for Fiz and the great young core they have here, thinking about playing with KP, that was a big thing before I made my decision to sign back — or, I don’t want to get in trouble, to plan on re-signing back — with Boston."
He added: “But yeah, of course, New York was a strong consideration.”
Irving is coming off a season cut short to a knee injury and despite the "strong consideration" of joining the Knicks, the five-time All-Star is still happy with his decision to stay with the Celtics.
“I think if you were in my position, I think it would be an easy decision at this point,” Irving said. “Thinking about who we have, and the future and what we’re set up for, for me, where I am in age and how I envision my career going, and kind of the lineage of guys who’ve come before me in the Boston Celtics, is something that I wanted to be a part of."
Irving finished the night with 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting with five assists against the Knicks. He's averaging 14.7 points with three rebounds and six assists through three games this season.
