New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has seen the Knicks reach the NBA Finals in his first year at the helm, but no one expected a budding rivalry between him and the Ohio Republican nominee for governor.
Vivek Ramaswamy posted a courtside picture with his wife from Monday’s Cavaliers vs. Knicks Game 4 at Rocket Arena, captioning the post, “Date night in Cleveland. Let’s go Cavs…all the way back!”
Mamdani, who was in the upper bowl at MSG for Game 2, reposted it after the Knicks completed their sweep.
Mamdani was asked if he was trolling Ramaswamy with the retweet during an interview with CNN.
“You know, I just hope you had a nice night, and we had a great one in New York,” Mamdani responded while laughing.
Interviewer Kaitlan Collins, added “that sounds like a yes,” as Mamdani continued laughing.
Mamdani did not ask for nor receive comped tickets for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, and NBA Finals tickets at Madison Square Graden are going for massive sums of money.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy snagged a courtside seat that perhaps cost five figures, although it is unclear if he actually bought his seat or it was a comp from the team as he runs for governor of the state.
The Knicks swept Cleveland in four games to clinch their NBA Finals berth, where they await the winner of Spurs-Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
“I prayed for it, I hoped for it but I didn’t want to jinx it. It is incredible,” Mamdani said. “You know, 1999 is the last time the Knicks were in the Finals. Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’ was at the top of the charts.
“We are incredibly excited to play this song in New York City again today because we’re hopeful. We’re excited, it’s truly an incredible time to be a New Yorker.”
The Knicks will meet one of the Western Conference powers as massive underdogs on June 3 for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, regardless of who they play.
