Tom Carelli and his colleagues begin their most difficult project every December and typically finish in August.
Carelli compares the work to cooking a complicated meal. The final product must yield exactly 1,230 servings, but the recipe changes constantly. The ingredients often disappear, only to become available someplace else down the line. Throughout the process, Carelli and his sous chefs receive feedback from their diners and try to fulfill those requests.
Instead of supplying the menu for a gigantic wedding reception, Carelli and his brethren create the NBA’s regular-season schedule. Carelli, the league’s senior vice president of broadcasting, heads a group of people assembled from different league departments.