The New York Knicks have ordered Zohran Mamdani, who is the leading New York City mayoral candidate, to "cease and desist" after his campaign used the basketball team's logo in advertisements, the New York Post reported. The team made it clear that it does not support the Democratic socialist's candidacy.
The campaign used a logo similar to the basketball franchise's, with "Zohran" in the place of the Knicks' team name. The color scheme also mimicked the blue and orange logo with social media ads using the tag line, "This is our year. This is our time."
The organization said the ad was "likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks." To make matters worse, the broadcast ad was run on Wednesday night during the Knicks' season opener.
NY Knicks issue Zohran Mamdani cease and desist over logo in campaign ad — stressing they ‘do not endorse’ https://t.co/XNQVxNcbck pic.twitter.com/x2c96oziIQ
— New York Post (@nypost) October 24, 2025
The team made it clear that Mamdani was to stop using the version of their logo to sell New Yorkers on his radical ideas. "The NY Knicks have sent NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a cease-and-desist letter for using the NY Knicks logo to promote his candidacy," the letter stated, according to Fox News.
"The Knicks want to make it clear that we do not endorse Mr. Mamdani for Mayor, and we object to his use of our copyrighted logo. We will pursue all legal remedies to enforce our rights," the legal missive added.
This comes as the team's head coach is hopeful for another NBA Finals appearance, representing the Eastern Conference. If they succeed, it will mark the first time in more than a quarter of a century that the team has reached this far since their last appearance in 1999.
The New York Knicks notched a win Wednesday night in their season opener, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-111 during the matchup in Manhattan. Perhaps the team owner, John Dolan, is worried that this winning year might be overshadowed by a connection with Mamdani.
After all, it's not like Dolan is not used to leftist politics. In 2022, he donated $70,000 to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign. Mamdani is the favorite to win against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic side and "Guardian Angels" founder and political activist Curtis Sliwa for the Republicans, who will face off on Nov. 4.
There was mayoral race drama surrounding the Knicks even before the latest attempt to co-opt the Knicks' logo. According to The Hill, Mamdani slammed Cuomo for appearing courtside at Wednesday's game alongside the outgoing Democratic Mayor Eric Adams. Cuomo shared a photo at the game with Adams on his account on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. Mamdani took it and ran with it, sharing the post labeled "Corrupting goes courtside," Mamdani said.
Corruption goes courtside. https://t.co/TaEItxMAmc
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 23, 2025
Cuomo is the only candidate who has not shied away from accepting Adams' endorsement should he offer it, and it appears Mamdani is positioning himself to attack him for it. Meanwhile, Cuomo has plenty of ammo against Mandani for his radical polices and lack of experience.
"I did things. You’ve never had a job. You’ve never accomplished anything. There’s no reason to believe you merit or qualification for eight and a half million lives. You never showed up for work, and you missed eighty percent of the votes. Shame on you," Cuomo said to Mamdani.
This is an embarrassing situation for Mamdani with the logo change, but it likely won't hurt his campaign. The people of New York seem eager to usher in a communist regime that will be the proverbial final straw that breaks the struggling city's back.
