NBA fans won’t see any games on the schedule on Tuesday as the league has elected to take the day off in order to encourage voter participation and civic engagement on Election Day.
The NBA announced the decision prior to the start of the 2022–23 season, encouraging fans to “make a plan to vote during midterm elections” on Nov. 8. The league also revealed that it would generate a slate of content focused on voting, while also sharing resources from voting organizations to inform fans about the importance of civic engagement.
Franchises distributed localized voting resources from team social media accounts throughout the day on Tuesday.
The scheduling move was a rare one for the NBA, which hosted at least three games on each Election Day between 2012 and ’18, including eight matchups in ’14. However, James Cadogan, executive director of the NBA Social Justice Coalition, said the decision was made to help people understand that “voting is unlike anything else.”
Without any games on Election Day, the NBA put together a full slate of action on Monday with all 30 teams taking to the court. The league staggered the start of each game by 15 minutes, allowing viewers to catch at least a portion of each matchup.
Additionally, players around the NBA wore wore specialized warm-up shirts on Monday that read “VOTE” on the front.
After taking the day off on Election Day, the NBA will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 9, with 13 games set to be played.
