Kyrie considered joining Knicks before declaring intent to stay with Celtics

After a nail-biting victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving addressed the elephant in the room: Just how significant is his connection with the Knicks ahead of his likely free agency next summer?

"Every team was under consideration, but obviously New York held a special place for me, being from Jersey," Irving said after the game. "And obviously envisioning myself as a free agent, ultimately taking a meeting and playing for (Knicks coach David Fizdale), great young core that they have here, 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."

At a season-ticket-holder event last month, Irving announced his intention to re-sign with the Celtics.

Irving has a player option for the 2019-20 season, but most expect him to opt out of his current deal this summer to lock into a long-term contract at a higher annual figure.