Former pro basketball player Jonas Lalehzadeh runs for King City Council.

Jonas Lalehzadeh, 37, a former Iranian professional basketball player, is running for District 1 councilmember for King City, while current Councilmember Oscar Avalos has decided to file as a write-in candidate. 

"Serving the constituents of District 1 has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career, and I care deeply about the future of our community," Avalos says. "With recent changes in my professional life, my initial thought was that it was the right time to step aside and give someone else the opportunity to lead. However, after seeing that the seat would otherwise be uncontested, I realized that the residents of District 1 deserve to have options on their ballot."

Avalos has served on the Planning Commission and the Sales Tax Advisory Committee. He has also served as Vice President of the Salinas Valley Fair, Chair of the Southern Monterey County Foundation, and an active member of the King City Rotary Club. 

"I hope my track record shows my commitment to our residents. I am always open to constructive, forward-looking conversations about how we can keep progressing together, and I look forward to earning District 1’s vote this November," he says.

Lalehzadeh on the other hand, previously played for the Iran Super League and NBA Developmental League. He is running to address what he calls the community’s “lost generation” — young people roughly 18-30 who struggle to find career paths beyond low-wage or part-time work in the area.

“So my initiative is to bring together almost like a big brother, big sister program. I think I'm going to call it the King City Mentors, where we can bridge the gap and establish people with careers in town,” he says. “It could be real estate brokers, contractors, electricians, plumbers, people in tech, any type of established profession where we can have a mentorship program, something more ongoing, where young people have access to a professional and do it once a month for an hour or once a week for an hour.”

Lalehzadeh is originally from Orange County, where he studied criminology and law at UC Irvine, and moved to King City in 2021. He bought property, focuses on retail development and is also working in agriculture.

“I built out cultivation sites for just general ag and different plants and botanicals,” he says.

In 2024, Lalehzadeh ran for District 5 councilmember, but lost against incumbent Robert Cullen by almost 30 percent.

A long-term political career is not in his future, he says. Instead, Lalehzadeh frames a council term as a way to convene elders, business owners, and city staff around one goal: creating real opportunities for the next generation in King City.