Thursday, June 11, 2026

Want to be lucky today? Start here.

Down 29.

Let me say that again. Down. Twenty-nine. Points.

In the NBA Finals. At Madison Square Garden. In front of a city that has been waiting 53 years for this. With everything on the line. Down 29.

And the Knicks said no.

They came back. Clawed. Scratched. Refused to die. Cut it to two with 30 seconds left. And then Jalen Brunson launched a long three that bounced off the front of the rim. And OG Anunoby reached up with his right hand and tipped it in. 107-106. 1.2 seconds left on the clock.

Karl-Anthony Towns called it the right hand from God.

Coach Mike Brown called it the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball.

I call it proof.

Proof that something good is going to happen to you today. Not just today. Every day you refuse to give up. Every day you keep going when everything says stop. Every day you stay in the fight when the fight looks impossible. The universe has a way of meeting you there. Of tipping in the shot you thought you missed. Of giving you something you could not have planned for if you tried.

Help is on the way. I told you yesterday. I meant it.

The Knicks lead the NBA Finals 3-1. One win away from the first championship since 1973. Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio.

Down is not out. It never was.

If this newsletter has been part of your morning please share it with three people today. It takes ten seconds and it means everything to us.

Something good is going to happen to you today. I wholeheartedly believe that. Now here are your Lucky Seven. Not all of them are going to make you feel great. But you need to know them. Large coffee. Let’s go.

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ONE. THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN NBA FINALS HISTORY. AND JAMES DOLAN TRIED TO STOP THE PARTY.

Down 29 points in the third quarter. The largest deficit ever overcome in an NBA Finals game. And the Knicks did it. 107-106. OG Anunoby tip-in with 1.2 seconds left. The Garden lost its mind. New York lost its mind. The whole country lost its mind.

But here is the other story from last night. James Dolan canceled the outside watch party. After Mayor Mamdani had already approved a city permit for 999 fans to gather outside and celebrate. Approved. Done. Legal. Permitted. And Dolan canceled it anyway.

Trump’s buddy. The man who invited Trump to Game 3 in a suit that killed the vibe and jinxed the team. That same man looked at nearly a thousand New York Knicks fans who just wanted to stand outside the building and be part of the moment their city had been waiting 53 years for. And said no.

Mamdani posted: if there’s one thing Knicks fans don’t need permission for it’s showing up.

Two wet blankets. One team owner. One president. Both connected. Both trying to dim a light that New York refuses to let go out.

And the Knicks came back from 29 points down anyway. On a tip-in from God.

Stay away from that stadium James. Take Trump with you.

Series 3-1 Knicks. Game 5 Saturday in San Antonio. One win away from the right hand from God becoming the moment that defines a generation of New York basketball.

TWO. THE WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY.

Today. June 11. The most complicated World Cup in American history begins. Mexico vs South Africa in Mexico City at 5 PM Eastern. The US plays Uruguay tomorrow June 12.

And Iran is apparently going. Despite their sports minister saying under no circumstances can we participate. Despite the ongoing war. Despite the travel bans. Despite everything. The team arrived at their Tucson Arizona training camp. FIFA President Infantino met with Trump who said Iran is welcome to compete. Trump also said I really don’t care if they participate. Which is somehow both things at once.

Iran plays New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. More than 200 members of the Iranian diaspora gathered outside LA Stadium Sunday. Waving pre-revolutionary Iranian flags. Protesting the Iranian government. Not Iran’s participation in the tournament. The Iranian government.

We are hosting a World Cup while at war with one of the teams playing in our cities. Set your alarms. Today at 5 PM Eastern. Mexico vs South Africa. It starts today.

THREE. THE VIVEK RAMASWAMY ESSAY. READ IT. SHARE IT.

This week I published a Substack essay about Vivek Ramaswamy. About the interview that changed my career. About the lies he told on live television about Black history and the Civil War and the NRA. About being fired five days later. About what I asked in that meeting that nobody could answer. And about what is happening right now as that same man runs for governor of Ohio.

If you have not read it please read it today. And share it. Because the people of Ohio deserve to know who this man is before November.

Link in our Substack.

FOUR. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN IS FIGHTING FOR HER JOB. AND FOR THE RULES.

Trump demanded Senate Majority Leader John Thune fire nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she ruled the SAVE America Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote violates budget reconciliation rules. Cannot pass with a simple majority.

Thune has not fired her. Yet. But the pressure is real. The Senate Parliamentarian is one of the last nonpartisan guardrails standing between the Senate majority and the ability to pass anything it wants regardless of the rules. If she goes the rules go with her.

Watch this one every single day.

FIVE. THE UFC FIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE. THREE DAYS AWAY. STILL NO RULING.

The emergency injunction to stop the June 14 UFC fight at the White House has still not been ruled on. Construction on the 5000-seat stadium on the National Mall continues. The Public Integrity Project lawsuit alleges the administration bypassed environmental reviews. Built a stadium on federal parkland without congressional authorization. And that Trump bought up to $50000 in TKO stock while using public land for a private for-profit event.

Three days away. No ruling. Watch this today.

SIX. OFF THE RADAR: THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SENT HOME A WORLD CUP REFEREE.

Omar Artan. A referee assigned to work the 2026 World Cup. Sent home this week after the Trump administration intervened. The reason has not been fully disclosed. FIFA confirmed it. The administration confirmed it. Nobody has explained why a soccer referee was removed from the world’s biggest sporting event at the direction of the United States government.

We are hosting a World Cup and sending home referees we do not like. The most complicated World Cup in American history starts today at 5 PM Eastern.

SEVEN. ONE WIN AWAY.

Karl-Anthony Towns said it. Right hand from God. OG Anunoby reaching up with 1.2 seconds left and tipping in what should have been a missed three pointer. After being down 29. After everyone had written the comeback off. After the building went quiet and the hearts sank and the city braced itself.

And then it went in.

Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio. The Knicks are one win away from their first championship since 1973. One win away from ending 53 years of waiting. One win away from the right hand from God becoming the moment that defines a generation of New York basketball.

Down is not out. It never was. And something good is going to happen to you today.

THE GROUP CHAT

Seven Lemon Slices

The Knicks are the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 29-point deficit. The previous record was 26 points overcome by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. That team also came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the championship. The Knicks lead 3-1. The universe is aligned.

James Dolan canceled the outside watch party for Game 4 even though Mayor Mamdani had approved a city permit for 999 fans. Mamdani posted: if there’s one thing Knicks fans don’t need permission for it’s showing up. Dolan owns the Knicks. He also invited Trump to Game 3. Trump came in a suit. The Knicks lost. Trump did not attend Game 4. Dolan canceled the watch party anyway. The Knicks came back from 29 down and won on a tip-in from God. The universe has a sense of humor.

Iran’s diaspora community in Los Angeles showed up outside the stadium Sunday waving pre-revolutionary Iranian flags. Not supporting the Iranian government. Protesting it. Two hundred people saying to the world that Iran is not its government. That the Iranian people are not the Iranian regime. That they are here and they are rooting for their team and they want their country back.

Pope Leo XIV opened the World Cup with a message of peace calling the tournament a moment of global unity. He has now spoken about the Iran war five times in the past two weeks. The Catholic Church’s leader keeps saying the same thing. The leaders doing the fighting keep not listening.

The Knicks comeback last night was the largest in NBA Finals history. But it was also the latest chapter in one of the great stories of this playoff run. These Knicks have come back from double digit deficits in five different playoff games this postseason. They do not know how to quit. They have never known how to quit. That is not a basketball story. That is a New York story.

Game 5 is Saturday at 8:30 PM Eastern on ABC in San Antonio. One win. One game. 53 years of waiting. The right hand from God already showed up once. Do not bet against it showing up again.

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I’ll see you at 10 AM Eastern for Hot Topics Live on The Don Lemon Show and again at 5 PM for Lemon Live at Five right here on Substack, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Something good is going to happen to you today.

Stay lucky,

Lemon