NEW YORK _ Seated, coincidentally, at Madison Square Garden and next to a Knicks logo, Kyrie Irving essentially removed his verbal commitment to re-sign with the Celtics this offseason and will enter free agency.
"Just do the best for me. That's what it comes down to," Irving said. "Obviously this has become an entertainment thing for everyone. Somebody else is asking for a trade and I'm thrown into that. Uncertainty comes back on me. I don't live in a certain hub. Some people call me about this dumb s---. Of course my name is keep thrown into this and I'm not worried about a reputation, not worried about a legacy in the league. I'm just trying to be a human being, trying to make the best decision for my family.
"Obviously things this season haven't gone as I planned. That's part of being on a team where you're still trying to figure things out. I'm always going to be mature about that, professional, come and do my job every single day and see what happens. That's what it comes down to."
Prior to the season, Irving told fans at an event at TD Garden, "If you guys will have me, I plan on re-signing here." But the ensuing months have been trying for both Irving and the Celtics, leading to a shift. He said the previous commitment to Boson was due to "excitement" of starting a new season. He added that the Celtics remain the frontrunners for his signature in July.
"Feeling emotionally invested, coming off an injury last season, trying to prove something. Trying to be very much of a team-oriented player which I am naturally. But at the end of the day, like I said, I've spent the last eight years trying to do what everybody else wanted me to do in terms making my decisions and trying to validate through the media, through other personnel, managers, anybody in this business and I don't owe anybody s---," Irving said. "So for me I think that the confidence that I have in myself and my abilities, I want to be able to control what I want to control.
"I still have confidence in Boston and what they can promise for the future and what they have in terms of our pieces. That's what excited me a lot about the beginning of the season, was the opportunity to come into this season and doing what we planned on doing. Set a goal and go after it and then see what happens at the end of the season. That was the plan before and that's still the plan now, obviously Boston's still at the head of that race. So that's just where it stands."
The Knicks are targeting Irving and believe they have an opportunity to snag the New Jersey product. Having just completed a deal sending Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks, they've freed up enough cap space to land two max contracts this summer.
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"I respect the Knicks organization," Irving said. "Obviously they are making moves to position themselves for this upcoming summer. So I wish them the best."
In October, after verbally committing to the Celtics, Irving said he had strongly considered joining the Knicks.
"Every team was under consideration but obviously New York held a special place for me," said Irving, who grew up about 15 miles away from the Garden. "Just being from Jersey and obviously envisioning myself as a free agent and ultimately taking a meeting and playing for (Knicks coach David Fizdale) and a great young core that they have here.
"Thinking about playing with (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."
The Celtics were supposed to be the cream of the Eastern Conference but sit fifth in the standings at 32-19. Irving has, at times, been vocal about his frustration with the play of the young roster. On Friday, he blamed the media for creating hysteria about his free agency.
"This is like college recruitment all over again so I don't know, I don't know, this is just weird," he said. "This is a new position for me to be in, answering all these questions. All this stuff that I'm trying to avoid and it's just a distraction. It's crazy how things and story lines can seep into a locker room. You guys are part of the destruction of locker rooms and that's just what it is. This is an entertainment industry, I don't live for this entertainment, I don't live for all these talking to everybody every single day about my life and my decisions.
"I would just hope that everybody would respect that. That's really basically it. I'm a normal human being at the end of the day. I don't want to answer all these questions about my future all of the time. It's unfair to me because I have a focus to really help these guys grow as individuals and really help this team be successful. And when it starts getting out of hand and people start getting attacked personally, he said she said, that's so fifth grade and elementary. This industry is just so effed up. It's my decision at the end of the day. Who cares who says who, what's this, what's best for him, it doesn't matter. It's unwarranted commentary and of course it's still going to continue throughout the season, I'm aware of that. I'm a professional at the end of the day, I'm not going to disrespect anybody. But like I said it really comes down to what's best for me and my family."
