Sports leagues have largely bent the knee to the left.
Pro sports used to be a break from the world of politics, but no more.
Now the NBA is canceling games on one day for a surprising reason.
The NBA has gotten overtly political over the past few years, much to the frustration of many fans who simply want to be entertained after work.
Now the NBA is not scheduling games on Election Day this year in hopes of boosting turnout for the midterms.
From Breitbart:
“The NBA will not be scheduling any games on the midterm election day, but all 30 teams will play the night before on November 7…The league looks to use this as an opportunity to encourage its fans to get out and vote to ‘amplify the need for civic engagement.’ The official schedule will be released Wednesday for all 30 teams. However, the teams are encouraged to use their platforms to share election information with the fans — like registration deadlines — in the weeks leading up to election night.”
NBA fans tend to skew more Democratic than other sports leagues and the NBA has engaged in activism on behalf of the left, so it seems clear that the initiative is an attempt to push more Democrats to the polls.
Over the past two years, the league and individual players have openly supported the neo-Marxist group Black Lives Matter, and added pre-approved progressive slogans on the backs of players’ jerseys.
Also, players for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA openly campaigned for Senate candidate Raphael Warnock, who eventually won, against team owner Kelly Loeffler.
The NBA said in a statement, “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.”
NBA games tend to tip off when polls have closed, so the move seems more of a token gesture and an attempt to get people politically engaged in advance of election night.
James Cadogan, executive director of the NBA’s social justice coalition, said, “It’s unusual. We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event…But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”
Breitbart continued:
“Having teams help promote civic engagement by not playing on election night is a rare move by the league. Typically, the NBA will not play games on significant events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. In addition to trying not to schedule games on the day of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game. Usually, there are also a few days off around the All-Star Game.”
The move to cancel games on election day is just the latest example of the NBA getting political.
The league briefly shut down the NBA playoffs in 2020 after alleged rapist Jacob Blake was shot by police officers while resisting arrest.
Some players wanted to cancel the “bubble” playoffs altogether after the shooting incident.
Expect the politicization of sports only to get worse from here.