NBA’s Internal Memos Reveal Film Anxiety

In a surprising move, NBA Commissioner David J. Stern today released selected portions of the league office’s internal correspondence, in response to a request from lawyers for disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy.

The emails and memos disclose no new evidence about alleged “game-fixing,” but did reveal that league officials spent many hours in committee meetings trying to decide which upcoming movie the NBA Finals most resemble.

One sample memo reads: Clearly, Boston v Cleveland = ‘Indiana Jones and the Whatever it is This Time,’ but Lakers-San Antonio might be more like ‘Sex in the City,’ or ‘Das Boot.’

It was, in fact, 3 pm EDT on June 5, 2008, just hours before game one, when the league reached its finding the the Finals would most resemble “Hancock.”