NBA: No games on Election Day

The NBA’s social justice coalition announced Tuesday that no games will be played on Election Day, Nov. 8, to encourage people to vote.

The league will officially announce its schedule on Wednesday, but revealed its decision not to host games on Election Day a day earlier.

It added that the decision “came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement.”

In a statement, the league added that it hopes this will encourage fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections.

The move was first reported by NBC News.

“We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” James Cadogan, the executive director of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, told NBC News.

“But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy,” the Obama Justice Department alum added.

The NBA will also see all 30 teams compete the day before the midterms in a special election-themed night, NBC reported.

Previously, eight teams played on the day of the 2018 midterm elections, 12 teams had scheduled games in 2016 and 16 teams competed on Election Day in 2014.

In 2020, NBA teams, in partnership with local governments, turned their empty arenas into polling locations on Election Day.

The NBA’s social justice coalition, which is made up of current players, coaches and team executives, was created in November 2020 after the league became more involved with social justice issues amid the pandemic.

Players and the league have also spoken out about social justice and the Black Lives Matter movement in the aftermath of the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd that year.