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Julian Edelman, David Ortiz join Tom Brady in trying to recruit Kevin Durant

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Kevin Durant.Ronald Martinez

Looks like Tom Brady might have started a Kevin Durant recruiting frenzy.

After the famed Patriots quarterback teamed up with Celtics top brass Saturday, other major players on Boston teams — from the Red Sox to the Patriots — have been imploring Durant, the top free agent of this NBA free agency, to come play for the Boston Celtics.

Julian Edelman, a wide receiver for the Patriots, posted a photo to Instagram of himself wearing a Celtics jersey with the number 35 on it — which is Durant's current number.

"From the fans, to the history, to the amazing city itself, Boston is best place to play hands down," Edelman wrote, tagging Durant and including the hashtag "#titletown."

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The post received more than 31,000 likes and more than 1,3000 comments in about an hour.

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz also tweeted at Durant on Saturday night, apologizing for not being able to make the meeting earlier that day. "[B]ut Brady will tell u they don't call Boston the City of Champions for nothing," Ortiz noted in the tweet.

Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas has been reaching out to Durant for weeks, and Brady attended a recruitment session with the Oklahoma City Thunder star on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Al Horford accepted Boston's four-year, $113 million maximum-salary contract offer on Saturday.

Horford's father said the decision came because the passion of Boston's fans made an impression on the player.

"He said to me, 'Dad, when we were playing Boston, they were down 15 points and they were cheering their team like they were winning the game. They're so into the game,'" Tito Horford said. "This is special for us, especially for him."


Adam Himmelsbach and Rachel G. Bowers of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

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