A lot has changed for the New York Knicks since the team last made it to the NBA Finals in 1999. From the length of the players’ shorts to the more than $1 billion in renovations for their home at Madison Square Garden, the team has evolved with the times. One thing that’s basically the same, though, is their logo. Designed by Michael Doret and unveiled in 1992, the Knicks logo shows the team’s name written out in bold, blocky letters above a basketball and on top of an inverted triangle. Though the blue-and-orange color palette has since been tweaked and an all-caps “New York” was added in 1995, the form of the logo is the same today as it was then. Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball against Dennis Schroder of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the fourth quarter in Game Two of the NBA Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden on May 21, 2026. [Photo: Pamela Smith/Getty Images] That’s something of a rarity in professional sports, where things like city and mascot changes, extended losing streaks, or just a desire for something new can prompt semiregular rebrands . Not for the Knicks, though. “I think that that logo and I think that the team itself has become so iconically New York,” Doret tells Fast Company . “I just love it.” Doret grew up in New York City near Coney Island and was inspired by its rich graphic environment. He would say New York is in his bones, “but it’s more like it’s in my brain,” he says. And though he’s since moved cross country to Los Angeles, he’ll still be rooting for the Knicks. The birth of an NYC icon To hear Doret tell it, the logo emerged to him like a sculptor taking his tools to a block of wood. “I have to sit down and just start playing with forms and shapes and colors and so on,” he says. “And every time I put a piece of tracing paper over another sketch, I’m whittling more into that wood until I find the form that’s pleasing to me.” [Images: courtesy Michael Doret] When the NBA creative director, Thomas O’Grady, hired Doret for the Knicks job, he was given hardly any direction aside from a request that the logo incorporate the Empire State Building. Because of legal concerns, however, the building wasn’t included in the final draft. The finished logo doesn’t reference any New York City landmarks directly, but it does use the colors from the city flag as well as a 3D perspective to give it a unique point of view. The shadowing and shape of the letterform in “Knicks” makes it seem as if you’re looking up at the logo from below, like a building. The Empire State Building may not have made it to the final product, but the experience of looking up at the Empire State Building is there. [Images: courtesy Michael Doret] In a city with no shortage of icons, from skyscraper silhouettes and subway signage to logos like Milton Glaser’s “I Heart New York” and the “NY” monogram of the Yankees, the Knicks logo has emerged as a distinct mark representing New York pride that’s especially salient as the team plays for the NBA championship. When Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, used a parody version of the logo in his 2025 electoral campaign , Doret was amused. “I actually loved it,” Doret says. “It’s become so pervasive that everybody wants to be a part of that.” [Images: courtesy Michael Doret] Knicks evolution Doret’s other logo drafts for the Knicks have found a second life. Since 1995, the team has used a “NYK” insignia he designed as a secondary logo, and in 2024, the fashion house Kith released a collection using alternate logos from his sketches and concepts . Still, the team’s long-running logo remains. [Images: courtesy Michael Doret] “Sports brands are often tempted by the same forces that affect every brand, which is the pressure to stay modern,” said Sunny Bonnell, cofounder and CEO of the branding agency Motto. “Some updates work. Many age quickly because they’re responding to a trend rather than expressing a timeless idea.” The Knicks, though, show how familiarity can be a strategic advantage, she says. Most teams would have rebranded at some point between two NBA finals appearances nearly three decades apart. By sticking with their longtime logo, though, the Knicks made an investment in their brand that paying dividends today.
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