The NBA season is in full swing and every night there are at least a couple of games worth watching for most basketball fans. But not on November 5. Some NBA followers may have noticed that the schedule is entirely empty for Tuesday.
Why is that? There is a simple explanation.
Why Are There No NBA Games Tonight, November 5?
The NBA decided to not schedule any games for November 5 because it is election day in the United States of America. As part of the league's initiative to inspire viewers young and old to exercise their rights as citizens there are no games scheduled so nobody has to choose between watching their favorite team or voting.
This decision comes with the added benefit of making it easy as possible for the players themselves to vote in their home states, which was complicated in the past with the travel required of teams playing on the night of the election.
How Long has the NBA Done This?
It is a recent initiative by the league. The NBA first left election day blank on the schedule in 2022 ahead of the midterm elections. This will be the first presidential election with no NBA games scheduled for the night of the election.
Why is the NBA Doing This?
Since 2020, the NBA has been very public in its push to encourage voting amongst its viewership. In the lead-up to this year's election and past election days every team in the league wore shirts that read "VOTE." Superstars like LeBron James publicly broadcast their intentions to vote. It's a league-wide endeavor to get fans out to vote.
Here's proof of concept from the league itself. In 2022 James Cadogan, the Executive Director of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition gave an interview with NBC News. Here's what he said about the election day schedule.
"We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event," Cadogan said. "But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy."
Additionally, Cadogan noted the NBA is focused on "communicating about the importance of civic participation, the importance of registering, the importance of getting out and voting."
Will the NBA Resume This Week?
It sure will! The empty schedule on November 5 is a one-off. There are a whopping 12 games on Wednesday, November 6 and the season will progress as usual from there.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Here's Why There Are No NBA Games Scheduled for November 5 .
