After declaring last October he would be re-signing with the Celtics this summer, Irving said Friday, "I’m going to do what’s best for my career, and that’s where it stands.''

There was a collective sigh of relief generated by the statement he made back on the night of Oct. 4.

Kyrie Irving grabbed a microphone and stood on the TD Garden court at a Celtics’ open practice session when he addressed the invited season-ticket holders in attendance

“If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year,’’ said Irving.

With one sentence, Irving seemingly put an end to all the speculation about his future, about whether he’d be testing the free-agent market next summer or staying with the Celtics.

With one sentence, a possible distraction was seemingly wiped away, and it was on to the 2018-19 season, which held such promise.

But now, four months later, a cloud has appeared over what seemed to be such a sure thing – Irving signing a five-year, $188 million contract to remain with the Celtics through 2023-24 season.

During a wild week in the NBA, with Anthony Davis asking out of New Orleans and the New York Knicks freeing up cap space by trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, Irving’s future home is back up for debate.

There have been some wild rumors about Irving getting back together with LeBron James in Los Angeles, and now the Knicks are positioned to sign two players to maximum contracts in the summer.

So when Irving arrived at Madison Square Garden on Friday morning for a shoot-around hours before the Celtics faced the lowly Knicks, he was surrounded by media members looking for answers.

And Irving did not knock down all of that speculation that has arisen saying, “Ask me July 1’’ if he was still going to re-sign with the Celtics.

“At the end of the day,’’ Irving told reporters during the five-minute session, “I’m going to do what’s best for my career, and that’s where it stands.

“I’ve spent the last eight years trying to do what everybody else wanted me to do in terms (of) making my decisions and trying to validate through the media, through other personnel, managers, anybody in this business, and I don’t owe anybody (expletive).’’

Irving and the Celtics were the favorites to win the Eastern Conference when the season began in October. Without Irving and Gordon Hayward, the Celtics had made it to Game 7 of the conference finals, and now they were adding two all-stars.

But it has not been a smooth sailing for the Celtics, who have been up and down but showed improvement in January, taking a 32-19 record into the game against the Knicks.

Irving has been brilliant on the court, but he has been critical at various times of his younger teammates and was in turn criticized by one of them, Jaylen Brown.

“Obviously, things this season haven’t gone as I planned,’’ said Irving. “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.’’

Irving said that, “Obviously, Boston’s still at the head of the race,’’ and likes what he sees down the road for the Celtics.

“I still have confidence in Boston and what they can promise for the future and what they have in terms of our pieces,’’ said Irving, who would be eligible to sign a four-year, $140 million deal with another team. “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.’’

Irving was asked by reporters why he made it known in October that he was planning to stay with the Celtics, something he discussed with team management prior to making that announcement.

“I think it was just the excitement,’’ said Irving. “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.’’

There are 30 games remaining in the season, and the Celtics have shown lately they are capable of moving up the conference standings between now and April

They don’t need any distractions, and Irving isn’t looking forward to continued speculation, but he could have ended that by reaffirming on Friday that he’d be back in Boston next season.

“I’m a normal human being at the end of the day,’’ said Irving. “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.’’

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.