This story is relatively old–however–it is still a very important topic in terms of the state’s identity. The local professional basketball team that has been affectionately known as the Maine Red Claws since their inaugural season in 2009 (a season which had record breaking fan turnout for a development team) went through a rebrand in 2021 after becoming the sole affiliate of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics.  

While it is great that a big-league team like the Boston Celtics have a concrete presence in our state, the rebrand away from a logo and color scheme that was unique to the state of Maine is not something to celebrate. This state is infamous for its lobster fishing industry, so having a local team called the “Red Claws” with their logo being a big red lobster was very fitting for the area and its culture. Not to mention, the name “Red Claws” was also chosen in part to pay homage to the Boston Celtics founder Red Auerbach. 

The Red Claws used to be the NBA Development League (now known as the G-League, due to a Gatorade sponsorship) affiliate for both the Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Charlotte Hornets). What that means is that when either the Celtics or the Bobcats would draft or sign a young and/or unproven player they could send them down to the Red Claws and watch how they play at a semi-professional level to see if they are ready to be called up to the big league squad. This is similar to the Portland Sea Dogs relationship to the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball.  

In 2019, the Celtics bought the Red Claws and removed the Bobcats/Hornets franchise from the team, making the Boston Celtics the sole affiliate of the Red Claws.  

For two glorious seasons, the Celtics and Red Claws coexisted perfectly: affiliated, cohesive, and exclusive but still separate in identity. However, in the summer of 2021, the Boston Celtics announced that the beloved Maine Red Claws would now be known as the Maine Celtics, stripping the uniqueness from Portland’s favorite basketball team. The iconic red and green uniforms that fans had grown to love would be drained of their distinguishing “Lobster Red” hue and drenched entirely in green to show our undying association with the almighty Boston Celtics. But fear not: they kept Crusher the Lobster as the team logo and they simply made him bright shamrock Green to match the teams newfound Irish branding.  

I, for one, found this distasteful; even as a diehard Boston Celtics fan. Boston is a city with a rich Irish history, and the name Celtics makes sense for that town. Portland, and the state of Maine as a whole, does not have that same Irish history. Portland’s history was reflected in the previous branding, which is now gone, leaving the team with confusing, nonsensical theming that has not grown on me at all in the 4 years that it has been here.