The Maine Red Claws will be rebranded for the 2021/22 season. The Celtics announced today that their G League affiliate will no longer be called the Maine Red Claws and will instead be known as the Maine Celtics going forward.
The team previously known as the Red Claws has been affiliated with the Celtics since 2012. However, Boston and Maine only had a hybrid affiliation for several years before the Celtics purchased the G League team outright in 2019. Maine had been one of the last independently owned NBAGL franchises before becoming the 26th club to be owned by an NBA team.
“When we purchased the Maine franchise in 2019, we immediately made that organization a part of our family,” Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement today. “The decision to rename the team to ‘Maine Celtics’ is the next step in that evolution, and a nod to our diehard fan base, which extends throughout the great start of Maine.”
It has become increasingly common for an NBA franchise to rebrand its G League team by giving it the same nickname as its parent club. The Nets, Clippers, Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Raptors, Lakers, Suns, Kings, and Bulls all share their nicknames with their respective G League teams, while the Timberwolves’ NBAGL affiliate is known as the Wolves.
The Maine Celtics’ new logo can be seen right here.
Lame!
alright mane. that’s the main attraction. you go maine.
Maine Men!
super lame
Lol only logic I can see is they’re trying to trick viewers who flip to a game by accident. Dumb.
Maine Celtics? Red Claws has tons more personality!! Loved that logo!
Who’s next in this rebranding crap.. “The Fort Wayne Pacers”??
I hope not. Long live the Mad Ants!!
Red Claws and Mad Ants… How can you go wrong with team names like that!
The NBAGL is getting wayyy too serious. The higher salaries are a great thing, though.
I bought a Mad Ants Tee shirt just because.
Are you sure it’s not going to be: Maine Liners ??
Weak. Over-corporate and the opposite of impressive. A lie… they are not the same team, and more words will be needed to specify them.
Part of a trend… We are getting closer & closer to GL teams being JV teams that compete on the same floor as the “main e”vent… but, for now, the system is stuck in the middle b/c Silver is in charge.
More proof for the need to have a separate semipro league that can market itself without interferance. Not that I am holding my breath waiting for these changes.
Coulda w’da sh’da: been the Maine Events.