Viral Fake Memo Purports to Reveal Outcome of Scripted 2023 NBA Finals

Some fans like to joke that sports outcomes are scripted, especially when the results don’t go their way. One viral image posted on social media recently took that idea a little further than normal.

A fake NBA memo on Twitter purported to reveal the outcomes of the two conference finals series and the NBA Finals. In the phony memo, the Celtics are supposed to defeat the Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals, while the Lakers were to defeat the Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference finals.

Then, Los Angeles was allegedly poised to take down Boston in a seven-game NBA Finals series, with LeBron James scripted to score 53 points in the deciding game and winning the Finals MVP award.

One obvious sign that the memo is fake is the date atop the note: July 18, 2023. Any fan able to search the web quickly can find out that Game 7 of this year’s NBA Finals would be played a month earlier, on June 18.

Of course, with Denver now up 3-0 on the Lakers, the memo already has been proven inaccurate, and the way the Nuggets are playing, it doesn’t seem as if they will let up.

As a Boston-Los Angeles NBA Finals undoubtedly would produce big ratings, it makes sense that the NBA might secretly hope for such a matchup. However, if Nikola Jokić or Jimmy Butler reach the Finals, there still will be myriad compelling storylines for fans.