The Maine Red Claws are a basketball team of the NBA Development League affiliated with the Boston Celtics, the Charlotte Bobcats and the Philadelphia 76ers. On February 25, 2009, the NBADL awarded the city of Portland, Maine with an expansion franchise. The team began playing in the 2009–2010 season. The team's home court is the Portland Expo Building. The team is owned by Maine Basketball, LLC, which is chaired by William Ryan, Jr., owner of Oxford Plains Speedway and Jon Jennings, former Celtics assistant coach who serves as president and general manager. On July 21, 2009 the Red Claws announced Austin Ainge as the first Head Coach of the team. Radio station 96.3 WJJB-FM will broadcast the games.

On April 2, 2009, "Red Claws" was announced as the winning name after a name-the-team contest. Voters in the contest could choose among 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.

Maine (ⁱ/ˈmeɪn/) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost portion of New England. It is known for its scenery—its jagged, mostly rocky coastline, its low, rolling mountains, its heavily forested interior and picturesque waterways—as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.

For thousands of years, indigenous peoples were the only inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. At the time of European encounter, several Algonquian-speaking peoples inhabited the area. The first European settlement in Maine was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations, and conflict with the local peoples caused many to fail over the years. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements survived. Patriot and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from Massachusetts. On March 15, 1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the 50 United States.