The NBA will not have any basketball games on Election Day in November when Americans head to the polls around the country to participate in the midterm election contest.
“The NBA today announced that no games will be played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022,” the NBA tweeted. “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.”
NBC News reported that the NBA’s 30 teams will play on the day prior to the election with every home team holding an election-related themed fan night.
Former Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom has expressed support for the move, but claimed “that the #NBA subliminally encourages players to vote for a certain party. I had coaches lose their jobs over expressing conservative values, players & staffers who had to hide who they support & vote for or they will get hated on the rest of the season,” Freedom tweeted. “Additionally, the [NBA’s] biggest backer is #China so when they promote Civic Engagement here, Do they care to comment on a dictatorship they are profiting off of?” he wrote.
Freedom has been outspoken against human rights abuses in China — last year he decried Chinese President Xi Jinping as the “heartless dictator of China.”
Democrats currently control both chambers of Congress and will be hoping to maintain their power during the 2022 midterms. The party holds the majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate is currently comprised of 48 Democrats, two independents who caucus with the Democrats, and 50 Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.