In an interview with Rachel Nichols, point guard Kyrie Irving all but admitted that he wants to remain in Boston long term.
There have been plenty of discussions about just how long Kyrie Irving’s tenure with the Boston Celtics would be. He was acquired via trade just before last season and he missed the end of the season and all of the playoffs with a knee injury.
With a $21.3 million player option for 2019-10, there have been rumors about a possible get-together with Jimmy Butler with the New York Knicks if Irving decides to hit the free agent market next summer.
But Irving recently admitted exactly what every Celtics fan was hoping he would come to realize: he would be crazy to leave this situation in Boston.
“The future is very, very bright in Boston,” Irving told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “Even if I ever try to think about that thought of going elsewhere, it would be like ‘what are you thinking?’ We’re pretty f-ing good here.”
You know all the talk about Kyrie Irving as one of the elite free agents available next summer? Not so fast. Here's what he told me: "Even if I ever try to think about that thought of going elsewhere, it would be like 'what are you thinking? We're pretty f-ing good here." pic.twitter.com/QEM4XMDvWM
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 26, 2018
In the interview, Nichols essentially called him out on what he said, saying, “you’re pretty much saying that you’re going to stay here and re-sign here.”
Irving didn’t shy away from it.
“It is what it is, honestly,” he continued. “I think that I’m comfortable in the position that I’m in, and they know how I feel about them as teammates and the organization in general. So I’m happy to be a part of it and I can’t wait for it.”
After hearing Irving utter those words, every Celtics fan should be jumping for joy. Irving is one of the premier point guards in the league, and he showed it when he averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists per game last year.
He’s exactly the superstar player Boston needs to be a championship contender.
And Irving knows that, if he stays with the Celtics, he can compete for titles for years to come. He’s only 26 years old, and his teammates include guys like Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Hayward is a star in his prime right now, and Tatum and Brown are both superstars in the making entering their second and third NBA seasons respectively.
Kudos to Irving for realizing that he pretty much has it made in Boston, and giving that up to play somewhere else just wouldn’t make as much sense.