Why Are There No NBA Games on Thanksgiving?

Madison Williams | Aug 12, 2024

Mar 12, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; A view of the NBA logo painted on the sideline before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks at Chase Center. / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2024–25 NBA season schedule set to come out soon, fans may be confused about some aspects of the schedule.

One thing, for example, is why NBA teams don't have any games scheduled on Thanksgiving this year. Americans are used to sitting around with their friends and family on Thanksgiving and watching sports, specifically the NFL.

However, the NBA is known for not playing games on Thanksgiving each year, even though they'll play on other holidays like Christmas. If you didn't already know this, here's an explainer as to why the league chooses not to compete on Thanksgiving.

Why Are There No NBA Games on Thanksgiving?

Ever since the 2011–12 season, the NBA has given the players Thanksgiving off to celebrate with their friends and family. It is one of four days each year that the NBA does not compete on, with the others including Christmas Eve, Election Day and the NCAA men's basketball national title game day.

There's been other years during the 1990s and 2000s in which the NBA didn't play on Thanksgiving. But, it wasn't as consistent as it has been for the past 13 seasons in a row.

The NBA has never given an exact answer as to why they stopped scheduling games on Thanksgiving, but it's likely because the NFL rules the holiday. The NFL hosts three games on Thanksgiving each year, and watching football on the holiday is a tradition like no other.