Following the Boston Celtics' 103-101 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Celtics star Kyrie Irving confirmed with the media that he seriously considered a potential move to New York for the next part of his career:
"Every team was under consideration," Irving said. "But obviously New York held a special place for me, being from Jersey and obviously envisioning myself as a free agent, and ultimately taking a meeting, playing for Fiz [coach David Fizdale], and the great young core they have, thinking about playing here. Playing with KP [Kristaps Porzingis], that was a big thing, before I made my decision to plan on re-signing back with Boston. But yeah, of course, New York was a strong consideration."
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Irving's father is one of the all-time leading scorers at Boston University, but he grew up in Northern New Jersey, sharing a backcourt with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for nationally-ranked St. Patrick High School of Elizabeth, N.J., before moving on to Duke University, the Cleveland Cavaliers and now Boston.
There was also the speculation about forming a super-duo with disgruntled Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler in New York, though Irving dismissed those rumors in a sit-down interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan last month, saying he hadn't talked to Butler at length in two years.
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