No Games That Day
The NBA, the men’s professional basketball league, announced yesterday that all 30 of its teams will have the day off on Tuesday, November 8th—election day.
The theory, of course, is to not cause a distraction or in any way be an impediment to people voting.
The league said instead, all 30 teams would play the day before in what they are calling a “civil engagement night”.
Quoting the league now, “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.”
Sounds great on paper. But keep in mind this is the same NBA that plastered the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on its playing surface, its court, after the COVID shutdown two years ago. This is the same NBA that is happy to ignore atrocities in China because it’s such a great market for its merchandise…and is happy to force players into silence if they dare to speak out in a way that is contrary from the NBA party line.
You may recall that two years ago, 23 of the NBA’s arenas and facilities were turned into voting centers in major metropolitan areas…very blue areas, for what it’s worth.
Keep in mind, past election days were not heavy game days for the NBA anyway…only three to six games instead of a maximum of 15 played on recent election days, according to CBS Sports.
Again, on paper it’s a nice gesture. But the NBA can hardly claim to “promote nonpartisan civic engagement”…based on its own actions and statements.
