Why are there no NBA games today, Nov. 28?

Once the NBA season starts, it rarely stops, although Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 28 this year) is one of only four Days Of The Year in which league doesn’t schedule any Games.

While some of world’s biggest basketball stars must get ready for action on Christmas Day, no NBA Games are typically played on Christmas Eve. Election Day, depending on the year, and the day of the men’s basketball national title Game are other days during the season when the league has a brief hiatus.

The reason there are no NBA games on Thanksgiving

As far as Thanksgiving is concerned, the reason for no games being played is simple: the NFL. For many Americans, food, family and football is the ultimate Thanksgiving combination and the NBA has decided not to attempt to compete or get in the way (although they have never said as much officially).

That wasn’t always the case, though. Basketball games have been played on Thanksgiving in the past, although you’ll have to cast your minds back slightly. They were commonplace before 1982, while there were also two more spells of action between 1994 and 2006, and 2008 and 2010.

But there haven’t been any Thanksgiving NBA games since their most recent lockout season in 2011, which began in December, and it looks set to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Front Office Sports has reported the league “isn’t expected” to schedule any Thanksgiving for the duration of its new 11-year, media rights deal, which starts next season.

NBA-NFL antitrust exemption

The NBA has already taken a hit in viewership by the NFL’s decision to increase its Christmas Day load. To avoid the same thing happening on Black Friday, an antitrust exemption has been established which prevents football from starting after 3:00 p.m. ET, leaving the evening for basketball fun.

This year, the Las Vegas Raiders will take on the Kansas City Chiefs using an oval ball, starting at 3:00 p.m. ET, with eight NBA Cup games being played after 5:00 p.m. ET.

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