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With the 2023-24 season in full swing, many fans have been wondering why there are no NBA games scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 23. The reason is that Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. So, as has become tradition, the league is giving players, coaches and team staff time off to spend with their families.
This year marks the 12th straight season no games will be played on Thanksgiving, with the last Thanksgiving games having taken place in 2010. However, Thanksgiving is still one of the few days that players get off outside of the All-Star break.
Other off days include Election Day (Nov. 7), Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) and the day of the NCAA men's Division I basketball championship game (April 8). In addition, the league has no games scheduled for the second-last day of the regular season (April 13).
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The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament will also free up two more off days this season. There are no games scheduled for Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. This is because the tournament will ramp up with the quarterfinals starting on Dec. 4 and culminate with the championship game on Dec. 9. So, the league has allowed some breathing room in between.
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Another reason the NBA doesn’t play on Thanksgiving
Another reason that has long been speculated regarding why the NBA doesn’t play on Thanksgiving is because it doesn’t want to compete with the NFL.
It has long been a tradition for Americans to watch football on Thanksgiving, with another premier triple-header scheduled for this Thursday. So, when it comes to major sports leagues, the NFL virtually has a monopoly over the holiday.
The NBA has been doing its best to compete with the NFL during the early portion of its schedule. The In-Season Tournament is one way the league has been trying to increase viewership.
However, it appears that the NBA will leave Thanksgiving alone for the foreseeable future. Fortunately for the league, it still has its full slate of five primetime Christmas Day games this season.
