Kyrie Irving on choosing between New York and Boston: “Boston, there’s nothing like it”

NEW YORK - Prior to the start of the Boston Celtics’ regular season, point guard Kyrie Irving announced that he intends to re-sign with the team next summer. It was welcome news for Celtics fans everywhere, and quite the opposite for New York Knicks supporters. With Saturday night being Irving’s first appearance in the Big Apple since his announcement, the questions from local media were unavoidable.

Rather than shooing them off and re-stating that he had already addressed questions about his decision, Irving answered with some well thought out responses following the Celtics 103-101 win at Madison Square Garden. For many New Yorkers, one question remained atop their list: Was New York seriously under consideration?

“I mean, every team was under consideration,” Irving said on Saturday. “But obviously, New York held a special place for me, just being from Jersey, and obviously envisioning myself as a free agent and ultimately taking a meeting and playing for (David Fizdale) and the great young core they had here, and thinking about playing with (Kristaps Porzingis). That was a big thing before I made my decision to sign back -- to plan on re-signing back, I don’t want to get in trouble, plan on re-signing back with Boston. But yeah, of course. New York was a strong consideration.”

Celtics fans may get a little squeamish when they hear Irving emphasize the word “plan” in his thoughts, but after hearing him speak at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, it’s pretty clear that the all-star guard likes his situation in Boston.

“If you were in my position, I think it would be an easy decision for you as well,” Irving said. “Thinking about who we have 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, kind of the lineage of guys that have come before me in the Boston Celtics, it’s something that 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 Jersey, there’s history there, but Boston, there’s nothing like it.”

Check out everything Irving had to say after Saturday night’s game here: