NBA. Why are there never games on Thanksgiving Day?

There is no holiday in the United States that is more revered than the Thanksgiving Day. The centenary tradition mark that the Fourth Thursday of November It is the day destined to give thanks for the blessings we receive during the year, families gather to eat turkey, mashed potatoes and other delicious dishes, but many also get together to watch sports.

Annually, the NFL presents a triple billboard on Thanksgiving Day for millions of Americans and people beyond their borders who like football or also celebrate, but curiously it is the the only one of the four major sports leagues in the United States with activity on that date.

Major League Baseball (MLB) his season ends at the beginning of November with the World Series, so it never coincides with the holiday. The National Hockey League (NHL) build your billboard for the next day, known as Black Friday, but And the NBA?

Why are there no NBA games on Thanksgiving?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) It is the most popular league globally of the four mentioned, but it does not reach the levels of American football when it comes to competing for the audience on the holiday. Until 2005, the NBA played games on Thanksgiving Day, but the ratings were minimal compared to the NFL, which at that time had two games on that date.

Given this panorama in hearings and with the decision in 2006 by the NFL to include a third game, The NBA resigned from hosting Thanksgiving gamesAlthough the “official version” talks about giving all of its players a day off on an extremely tight schedule (82 regular season games per franchise) on such an iconic date to spend with their loved ones.

Christmas is the strong day of the NBA

With the “lost war” to the liking of viewers on Thanksgiving Day, they looked for a new holiday to saturate matches with the most popular and powerful franchises in action. Thus, Christmas is the special day of the NBA in which it presents up to five games with its megastars included, currently such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic.

And to all this, what is Thanksgiving Day?

The Thanksgiving Day was born as a “Harvest Festival”, that is to say, a harvest festival. Its origin dates back to 1620, when a ship called the Mayflower arrived with more than 100 English settlers to settle in the New World, although more than half of them died from hunger and cold in the first winter.

In a spirit of solidarity to reach out to newcomers from the Old Continent, a group of Native American Indians offered their help to teach them to sow, hunt and fish. Thanks to that, in the autumn 1621 abundant crops were harvested of grain, barley, beans and squash. The settlers made a great celebration as a way of gratitude and they organized a feast that the Americans historically named as The America’s First Thanksgiving.

​