Kyrie Irving said he strongly considered the New York Knicks as a potential free agent destination before he announced his intention to re-sign with the Boston Celtics.

"I mean, every team was under consideration, but obviously New York held a special place for me," Irving said after the Celtics' 103-101 win over the Knicks on Saturday night. "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."

Irving has a player option for 2019-20, the final season of his five-year, $94 million contract. Irving is expected to re-sign with the Celtics in 2019.

"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."