Why Is the NBA Not Playing Any Games During Election Day? League Makes Public Announcement Over Decision

All 30 NBA teams were in action on Monday night, and the 15-game slate had plenty of drama.

Kevin Durant got into a heated exchange with a reporter after Houston beat Boston. Jayson Tatum took out his frustration on stadium property as the Celtics’ five-game winning streak ended. Austin Reaves had to pull Luka Doncic away from the officials during the Lakers’ win over the Heat, and Draymond Green was ejected in Golden State’s win over Phoenix.

The Pacers nearly beat the Hawks with just six available players, and the Memphis Grizzlies suffered their first loss of the season in overtime against New Orleans.

But on Tuesday, the league will have no games.

“No games have been scheduled for Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3), as the league will encourage fans and the broader NBA community to make a plan to vote and to participate in the civic process,” the league stated in a press release in August. “All 30 teams will be in action on the day before Election Day (Monday, Nov. 2).

This marks the fourth time in the past five years the NBA league has played no games on Election Day. Per Tom Dierberger of Sports Illustrated, “36 states will elect new governors on this day, and nearly all 50 states will be voting on state-level legislative bodies.” An important day, indeed, followed by the NBA tradition that began in 2022.

“The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections,” the league said in a 2022 statement.

The NBA kept Election Day free of games in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The one exception came last year, when the league held six games on Nov. 4, 2025. That was an off-year election with only two governor races and mostly local contests. According to SI, the league plans to keep sitting out Election Day in years with midterm or presidential elections.

Now, this comes off as an extra thoughtful gesture, given that the league doesn’t allow many no-game days. Election Day is one of only 10 days between Oct. 20 and the regular-season finale on April 11 without a single game. The others are Thanksgiving (Nov. 26), Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), the All-Star break from Feb. 19 to Feb. 24, with All-Star Weekend itself in Phoenix from Feb. 19-21, and April 10, the second-to-last day of the regular season.

But Election Day surely does hold major significance, which was reflected in James Cadogan’s statement from 2022.

“It’s unusual. We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” the executive director of the NBA’s social justice coalition said in 2022, per the same report by Dierberger. “But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”

Moving forward, the league is scheduled to get back into action on November 4.