Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said after Saturday's game that he considered signing with the Knicks before deciding to resign with the Celtics after this season, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.

"I mean, every team was under consideration but obviously New York held a special place for me," Irving said "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."

And while some Knicks fans are hoping they can still lure him to Madison Square Garden, the 26-year-old recently stated his desire to stay with the Celtics moving forward. Irving explained on Saturday that others in his shoes would realize that staying in Boston is "an easy decision" because of the way he said the team is built for the future.

"For me it was where I am in age and how I envision my career going," he said. "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."

Irving scored 16 points to go along with five assists in the Celtics' win over the Knicks on Saturday night.

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