New post

Morning Stew — Issue #3

Monday, June 15, 2026

Issue #3 · by meme.app

It's Monday. The Knicks are NBA champions. The Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions. The USMNT just had their best World Cup game ever. Gaethje pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. And Landon Donovan has hair. Let's get into it.

— Stew

Box Score

via @NBA

The NBA's New Golden Era

The New York Knicks are the 2026 NBA Champions after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 on Saturday night to take the series 4-1. Jalen Brunson carried a massive 38.4% usage rate through the Finals while battling severe fatigue and relentless double-teams, dragging the Knicks to their first championship since 1973. He took a discount to stay. He played through pure exhaustion. In doing so, he managed his most impressive accomplishment yet: he made the Knicks actually hard to hate.

But behind the noise, this Finals proved the NBA is officially heading in the right direction. This was a bruising, incredibly physical series defined by wrestling-like contact in the post, relentless full-court pressure, and defense so aggressive observers compared it to hockey checking.

Parity has replaced predictable superteams, giving us a league of contrasting, fascinating characters to invest in. On one side, Brunson, a 6'2" guard who relies on footwork and craftiness instead of elite athleticism, simply outworking everyone on the floor. On the other, Wemby and Harper, two young superstars who look like they'll torment the rest of the league for years to come. A refreshing antidote to soft, jump-shooting squads like the Celtics. If this series proved anything, it's that the NBA is in incredible hands with unique stars who actually give a damn about a trophy.

Cool stat: The Spurs managed to lose the series in five games despite leading for a staggering 72% of the entire NBA Finals.

TRIVIA: Who is the only player in NBA history to win Finals MVP while playing for the losing team? (Answer below)

So what: Eight different franchises have won the NBA title in the last eight years. The NBA wanted a post-LeBron identity that didn't rely on manufactured superteams, and they got it. A competitive, narrative-rich Finals featuring a massive legacy market like New York vs. an international generational talent like Wembanyama is a goldmine for TV ratings and merchandise sales. The league just got organic, high-stakes drama that casual fans actually want to watch, and the parity to back it up.

Also Trending

⚽

The USMNT just had the best World Cup game in their history. The US opened the 2026 World Cup on Friday with a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay in front of 71,000 in Los Angeles. Four goals (the most the US has ever scored in a World Cup match), 65% possession, 16 shots to 9. Pochettino's squad looked like a completely different team. ESPN →

🏒

The Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions. Carolina shut out Vegas 3-0 in Game 6 to clinch the Cup. Meanwhile on the losing side, John Tortorella, who was brought in to coach Vegas as a temporary fix after Bruce Cassidy got fired in March, took them from third in the Pacific to the Cup Final in two months. Now he's not so sure he's done. "I have to swallow this first" is a far cry from "end of June, I'm done." ESPN →

🏀	Knicks fans celebrated responsibly. 63 arrests, a shooting near Times Square, four stabbings, and a school bus set on fire. Honestly, I thought it would be worse. This just sounds like a typical Saturday night. Parade is Thursday 😬 Yahoo Sports →

🍌	A Knicks fan threw a banana into the crowd and it promptly came back to him. X →

🥊

Gaethje pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. A 6-to-1 underdog at 37 years old, he TKO'd Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 to win the lightweight title. On the South Lawn of the White House. On Trump's 80th birthday. His post-fight speech: "250 years ago we were way bigger than 6-to-1 dogs, and look at us thriving now." 'Murica! 🦅 Yahoo Sports →

⚽

The real comeback story of the World Cup. Landon Donovan showed up to his Fox Sports commentary gig with a full head of hair and the internet lost its mind. His quote: "I didn't realize how much I was aware of my hair, or lack of, because now I walk around and think: I'm kind of handsome." Legend. USA Today →

🏈

Aldon Smith has died at 36. The former 49ers pass rusher had 19.5 sacks in his second NFL season before off-field issues derailed everything. He was found unresponsive in his truck while delivering pizzas to a homeless charity. He was financially struggling while waiting to qualify for his NFL pension. Rest easy. Yahoo Sports →

🏎

Lewis Hamilton won his first race with Ferrari. The 41-year-old took the Spanish Grand Prix, becoming the oldest F1 winner since 1970. He's still chasing a record-breaking eighth world championship. "I started out a dream last year which seemed almost impossible. But we never gave up hope." NBC News →

For the Group Chat

Meme Impaired: Shaq was a really, really, really bad free throw shooter. Career 52.7%. He once airballed two in a row in a playoff game.

De'Aaron Fox slander (1 of 2)

De'Aaron Fox slander (2 of 2)

Pretty wild

Aged like milk

Meme Impaired: This is a real tweet from Becky Hammon, former WNBA star and current Las Vegas Aces head coach. It did not age well.

This shouldn't be possible

In all fairness, it was a full team implosion. This Spurs team doesn't have it. Send Wemby to Miami for Tyler Herro. The rebuild in San Antonio starts today. 🫥
And I say this as a completely unbiased NBA fan, not a Heat fan. Obv.

Trivia Answer

Jerry West

West won the award during the 1969 NBA Finals while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the Lakers losing a grueling seven-game series to the Boston Celtics, West averaged 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game. It was also the inaugural year the Finals MVP award was ever given out.

That was a lot. With the NBA and NHL seasons wrapped, the calendar shifts to the World Cup, MLB's midseason push, and NFL offseason chaos. See you Wednesday.

— Stew

Morning Stew · meme.app · morningstew.co
You're on the founding 10,000 list — no ads on meme.app.
Unsubscribe · Manage preferences

New post

Keep reading

Morning Stew