Could Danny Ainge’s favorite fast food joint know something we don’t?
The Boston Celtics team president is well known to be national Tex-Mex burrito chain Chipotle’s biggest fan — so much so his staff have related it has more or less become the franchise’s unofficial cafeteria, with the Celtics head honcho a permanent fixture at the popular fast food chain.
Ainge even owns one of the coveted Celebrity Cards, which grant holders their tortilla-oriented cuisine free of charge.
As part of a promotional drive, the chain recently issued a certain 2020 NBA Draft entrant a Celebrity Card of his own to use now that he’s back in the U.S., the prospect being Texas native R.J. Hampton.
The former five-star point guard prospect eschewed the usual route to the NBA by way of a detour in Australia and New Zealand’s National Basketball League (NBL), playing for the latter country’s Breakers franchise based in Auckland.
The Celtics Wire profiled Hampton being mocked to the Celtics with the 17th overall pick by Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo at the start of June; today, Hampton revealed his new Celebrity Card status on his Instagram.
Is there a connection? Quite probably only a marketing campaign, but a smart one, if we’re being honest.
New Sports Illustrated mock sees Boston take Hampton, 3 bigs https://t.co/RLhYnomayi via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 5, 2020
Ainge’s favorite lunch spot knows their audience, and the Celebrity Card concept is low-key some brilliant marketing.
It was probably only a matter of time before we started seeing it pop up elsewhere in the NBA (and NBA hopefuls).
Whether Danny himself had a hand in this remains to be seen, but if nothing else, we know what will be on the menu for any virtual pre-draft interviews.
[lawrence-related id=36453,34360,33927,33215]