The NBA’s Cavaliers have revealed their Kelce Brother bobbleheads ahead of Tuesday’s game against the visiting Boston Celtics, where Cleveland-area natives Jason and Travis will be on hand to raise money for local schools.
Jason, the former Philadelphia Eagles center announced his retirement yesterday.
Cleveland will be giving away bobbleheads of each brother and there will be exclusive Kelce/Cavs merchandise on sale, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting local schools.
The brothers are Cleveland Heights natives and lifelong fans of their hometown Cavaliers.
Both Kelce bobbleheads are wearing blue Cavs jerseys in their respective football NFL jersey numbers, No. 87 for Travis and No. 62 for Jason.
Although Jason always saw himself as destined for the football field, Travis briefly considered a college basketball career.
A former high school hoops star in Cleveland Heights, the younger Kelce brother received Division I hoops scholarship offers before committing to play football for the Cincinnati Bearcats.
‘West Virginia is where I wanted to play basketball,’ Jason said in December, revealing that he nearly accepted a scholarship to play for now-former Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins, who coincidentally previously coached at Cincinnati.
Travis also picked up his nickname, Big Yeti, while playing pickup basketball at UC.
‘It’s all about Big Yeti to me,’ Jason said on the pair’s New Heights podcast in October of 2022 when asked about his favorite nicknames for his brother. ‘Big Yeti is the best nickname you’ve ever had.’
As Travis explained in 2022, he was a harrier person at Cincinnati between 2008 and 2012.
‘I had the big beard, I had the long hair, I had the chest hair, back hair, arm hair, leg hair,’ Travis said.
‘I was just a big ole Yeti out there, man. All the homies on the court were calling me ‘Big Yeti’ — especially ’cause I was a low-post player, so I was just down there giving work, handing out work in the post.’
The Kelce brother visit comes at an important time for Cleveland coach J. B. Bickerstaff’s team.
The Cavs are third in the Eastern Conference standings with a 39-21 record while the Celtics are the runaway leader on 48-12.
Boston owns an 11-game winning streak and have won eight in a row away from home.
The Celtics turned in their most impressive half of the season Sunday when they built a 44-point halftime lead en route to a 140-88 home victory over Golden State.
Tuesday’s game will be the start of a five-game road trip that also takes Boston to games against Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah.
Cleveland is coming off Sunday’s night’s 107-98 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Cavaliers were without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who has missed the past two games with a bone bruise in his left knee.
Mitchell is set to miss at least three more games, including tonight’s game against Boston after receiving a PRP injection in his injured knee.
