Maine Red Claws

The Maine Red Claws are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League, based in Portland, Maine. The Red Claws play their home games at the Portland Expo Building. The team debuted in the 2009-2010 season and have since won three division titles. The team is owned by the Boston Celtics,[3] who purchased the franchise in July 2019 from Maine Basketball, LLC, a company chaired by William Ryan, Jr.

Maine Red Claws
League	NBA G League
Founded	2009
History	Maine Red Claws 2009–present
Arena	Portland Exposition Building
Location	Portland, Maine
Team colors	Red, green, gray, black, white[1][2]
Head coach	Darren Erman
Ownership	Boston Celtics
Affiliation(s)	Boston Celtics
Championships	0
Conference titles	0
Division titles	3 (2015, 2016, 2017)
Website	maine.gleague.nba.com

The Red Claws against the Dakota Wizards in the Portland Exposition Building in January 2011.

Franchise history

On February 25, 2009, the NBA G-League awarded the city of Portland, Maine, with an expansion franchise.[4] On July 21, 2009, the Red Claws announced Austin Ainge as the first head coach of the team.[5] During the 2009–10 season, the Red Claws were the only D-League team to sell out all 24 of their home games. This streak continued until the 2011–12 season, ending the streak at 48 consecutive games.

On June 21, 2012, the Red Claws announced that they had entered a hybrid affiliation with the Boston Celtics, making the Celtics the Red Claws' sole affiliate.[6][7] For the team's first two seasons, their affiliation was split between the Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Charlotte Hornets). For its third season, the team's affiliation was split between Boston, Charlotte and the Philadelphia 76ers.[8]

The Red Claws made their first playoff appearance in April 2013, entering the playoffs as the eighth seeded team and being swept by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in a best-of-three-game opening round series.[9][10][11]

On July 16, 2014, the Red Claws announced that Mike Taylor would not return for a third season as the team's head coach. He had a 45–55 record as coach over two seasons with the team.[12] He was replaced by Canadian Scott Morrison after 11 seasons as the head coach of Lakehead University's Lakehead Thunderwolves. Morrison spent the 2013–14 season as a D-League assistant.[13] On June 21, 2017, Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics head coach, named him as an assistant coach with the Celtics.[14]

On July 25, 2019, the Celtics announced they would purchase the Red Claws franchise from original owners Bill Ryan and Bill Ryan, Jr. Before the sale, the Red Claws had been one of the few remaining independently-owned NBA G League franchises. Their sale to the Celtics continued the trend of NBA teams purchasing their G League affiliates.[15] The sale was finalized on October 15, 2019.[16]

Team name

On April 2, 2009, "Red Claws" was announced as the winning name after a name-the-team contest.[17] Voters in the contest could choose from the Red Claws, Beacons, Crushers, Destroyers, Swarm and Traps. The name and logo give homage to the lobster fishing industry, a major economic engine of the New England area. The use of "Red" in the team's name also serves to pay tribute to longtime Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach.[18]

Season-by-season

Season	Division	Regular season				Postseason results
		Finish	Wins	Losses	Pct.
Maine Red Claws
2009–10	Eastern	4th	27	23	.540
2010–11	Eastern	5th	18	32	.360
2011–12	Eastern	6th	21	29	.420
2012–13	Eastern	3rd	26	24	.520	Lost First round (Rio Grande) 0–2
2013–14	Eastern	4th	19	31	.380
2014–15	Atlantic	1st	35	15	.700	Lost First Round (Fort Wayne) 0–2
2015–16	Atlantic	1st	31	19	.620	Lost First Round (Canton Charge) 0–2
2016–17	Atlantic	1st	29	21	.580	Won First Round (Fort Wayne) 2–1 Lost Semifinals (Raptors) 0–2
2017–18	Atlantic	4th	17	33	.340
2018–19	Atlantic	5th	19	31	.380
2019–20	Atlantic	1st	28	14	.667
Regular season record			270	272	.498	2009–2020
Playoff record			2	9	.182	2009–2020

Head coaches

#	Head coach	Term	Regular season				Playoffs				Achievements
			G	W	L	Win%	G	W	L	Win%
1	Austin Ainge	2009–11	100	45	55	.450	—	—	—	—
2	Dave Leitao	2011–12	50	21	29	.420	—	—	—	—
3	Mike Taylor	2012–14	100	45	55	.450	2	0	2	.000
4	Scott Morrison	2014–17	150	95	55	.633	9	2	7	.221	NBA D-League Coach of the Year (2015)
5	Brandon Bailey	2017–19	100	36	64	.360	—	—	—	—
6	Darren Erman	2019–present	42	28	14	.667	—	—	—	—

Current roster

Roster listing

Maine Red Claws roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G/F 10 Bibbs, Justin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1996–01–14 Virginia Tech C 23 Bohannon, John 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1991–10–29 UTEP G 00 Brown, Bryce 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1997–07–24 Auburn G 57 Davis, Trey 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–05–26 Massachusetts C 99 Fall, Tacko (TW) 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 311 lb (141 kg) 1995–12–10 Central Florida F 22 Gates, Kaiser 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1996–11–08 Xavier F 8 Jeter, Sheldon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1996–01–14 Pittsburgh F 1 Maten, Yante 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1996–08–14 Georgia G 5 Paige, Jaysean 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1996–07–14 West Virginia F 11 Pickens, Dorian 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1996–04–11 Stanford G 51 Waters, Tremont (TW) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998–01–10 LSU	Head coach Darren Erman Assistant coach(es) Alex Barlow Evan Bradds Allen Deep Henry Domercant Allen Harris Brooks Sales Pierre Sully Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player (I) Inactive Injured Roster Last transaction: 2019–11–12

Players assigned from NBA teams

• Bill Walker – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 21, 2009
• Alexis Ajinca – assigned by the Charlotte Bobcats on November 30, 2009
• Lester Hudson – assigned by the Boston Celtics on December 15 and December 26, 2009
• Sherron Collins – assigned by the Charlotte Bobcats on December 8, 2010
• Avery Bradley – assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 14, 2011
• Craig Brackins – assigned by the Philadelphia 76ers on February 7, 2012
• Fab Melo – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 14, 2012
• Kris Joseph – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 14, 2012
• MarShon Brooks - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 1, 2014
• Rajon Rondo – assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 15, 2014
• Vítor Faverani - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 25, 2014
• Vander Blue - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 31, 2014
• Jordan Mickey - assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 5, 2015
• Terry Rozier - assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 5, 2015

Players recalled by NBA teams

• Lester Hudson – recalled by the Boston Celtics on December 20, 2009
• Bill Walker – recalled by the Boston Celtics on December 23, 2009
• Alexis Ajinça – recalled by the Charlotte Bobcats on February 2, 2010
• Sherron Collins – recalled by the Charlotte Bobcats on December 21, 2010
• Avery Bradley – recalled by the Boston Celtics on February 7, 2011
• Craig Brackins – recalled by the Philadelphia 76ers on March 2, 2012
• Rajon Rondo – recalled by the Boston Celtics on January 15, 2014
• Jordan Mickey - recalled by the Boston Celtics on January 16, 2016

NBA affiliates

• Boston Celtics (2009–present)
• Charlotte Bobcats (2009–2012)
• Philadelphia 76ers (2011–2012)

References

1. Evans Boston (September 15, 2015). "Contact Us". Maine.GLeague.NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
2. "Maine Red Claws Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
3. Mike Lowe (2009-06-29). "Red Claws, Celtics make their partnership official". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30.
4. "NBA Development League Expands to Portland, Maine". Maine Red Claws. 2009-02-25. Archived from the original on 2012-11-06.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-04-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "BOSTON CELTICS AND MAINE RED CLAWS ENTER INTO SINGLE AFFILIATION PARTNERSHIP BEGINNING WITH 2012-13 SEASON" (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. June 21, 2012. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
7. Toscano, Jimmy (June 21, 2012). "Celtics enter into single affiliation partnership with Red Claws". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
8. "Maine Red Claws Add 76ers As Affiliate". CBS Boston. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
9. "Furious Red Claws' Rally Falls Short". Archived from the original on 2013-04-13.
10. "RED CLAWS TO OPEN FIRST ROUND OF PLAYOFFS AT HOME THURSDAY". Archived from the original on 2013-04-14.
11. "Maine Basketball LLC owner bios". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
12. "NBA Development League: Red Claws Will Feature New Head Coach For 2014-15 Season". National Basketball Association. July 16, 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
13. "End of an era".
14. Former Wolves coach named assistant with Celtics
15. "Boston Celtics reach deal to purchase Maine Red Claws". Portland Press Herald. July 25, 2019.
16. Snow, Taylor. "Celtics Complete Purchase of Maine Red Claws". Maine Red Claws. NBA G League. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
17. "'She's Your Lobster' | Memorable Lobster Moments in Pop Culture". New England Today. 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
18. "27 Teams In 27 Days: Meet The Maine Red Claws". NBA G League. Retrieved 2019-01-02.

External links

• Official website