Thanksgiving Day has become synonymous with sports. Every year, families full of food gather around the television to watch NFL games. There is also typically some college football and/or college basketball on. But, what about the NBA?
There are millions of NBA fans out there who would love if the league included some Turkey Day action on the annual schedule. However, they won’t be getting their wish, this year at least.
There are no NBA games on Thanksgiving for a 15th consecutive year
There are no NBA games scheduled on Thanksgiving Day in 2025, which has become the norm over the past decade-and-a-half. It seems as though the league simply decided that they didn’t want to compete with the NFL on the annual holiday. Football and Thanksgiving go hand-in-hand, and this fact obviously isn’t lost on the league. When it comes to popularity and viewership, it’s almost impossible to compete with the NFL.
This hasn’t always been the case, however. The NBA last had Thanksgiving games during the 2009-10 season. That year, they held a holiday doubleheader on TNT that featured the Atlanta Hawks besting the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers defeating the Sacramento Kings. The following year the league was on strike during the Thanksgiving holiday, and they haven’t held a single game on Thanksgiving since.
But, since they don’t hold any games on Thanksgiving, the NBA typically stacks the schedule the night before. This year, there will be nine different games on Thanksgiving eve, including a triple-header on ESPN. There will also be 11 games on Black Friday.
So, there’s plenty of NBA action over the holiday weekend, just not on Thanksgiving Day itself. Luckily, the NFL is here to help with a Thanksgiving triple-header that includes battles between the Lions and Packers, Chiefs and Cowboys, and Ravens and Bengals.
If you’re not a football fan, you can always watch highlights of old NBA games to get you through the day until the league returns on Friday.