We’ll look at the timing of future political events, what the Wizards are doing and see how the team previously did on these days.
The 2024-25 Washington Wizards’ regular season schedule is out. Greg Finberg wrote about some of the key home games in this piece while I also added some other facts in this piece here.
Today, I’ll add some more things, specifically on how the 2024 U.S. Presidential and Congressional Elections impact the Wizards’ schedule, mostly on whether they are at home or away.
The Wizards will not play on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5
The American Presidential and Congressional elections are on the first Tuesday of November. By extension, state and local elections are also generally held on this date. What does this mean for the Wizards’ schedule?
On Election Day 2024, or Tuesday, Nov. 5, the NBA will not hold any games, as part of its efforts to increase voter turnout. This is the third consecutive year that the league has made Election Day one without games.
Here is what is interesting, however. The Wizards finish a three-game homestand on Monday, Nov. 4 against the Golden State Warriors and do not play again until the following Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies to kick off a five-game road trip.
And here’s one more interesting thing. The Warriors, who are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, are the home area of U.S. Vice President and Democratic Party presidential nominee Kamala Harris. I’m pretty sure that Vice President Harris will spend time the following day traveling to swing states to turn out the vote. But is it possible that she will watch her hometown team against the Wizards? After all, Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago a few weeks ago, in the same building where he won three NBA championships as a player for the Chicago Bulls as a key rotation player.
Though the NBA has only recently made Election Day a holiday on its calendar, the Wizards have lucked out of playing on that day when there is a presidential election.
They haven’t played on a Presidential Election Day since Nov. 7, 2000 when they went on the road to play the Bulls, winning 88-83. If you want to know where I was in life back then, I was an 11th grade student at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn which opened that fall. I’m still in shock that 24 years have passed by so quickly, but I digress.
Finally, I think this is a good time for me to remind you (if you’re at least 18 and an American citizen because this is about the U.S. Elections) to go vote on this day, if not earlier in your jurisdiction. Click on the link below (it’s from the U.S. government, not a political party) to learn how to register to vote, where to do it and more:
The Wizards won’t play on Jan. 6, 2025 when the Electoral College vote count takes place. They will be in the area then, however.
Unlike most heads of state in democratic countries with a President (so monarchies like the United Kingdom don’t qualify), the U.S. President is elected by the Electoral College, where votes are determined from individual state elections.
This date is important because it officially determines who the next president will be. Either Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump will be named the winner, along with Tim Walz and JD Vance, their vice presidential nominees, respectively.
Historically, this date has been ceremonial. But on the date of the last Electoral College vote count in 2021, there was an insurrection at the Capitol after Trump, then the President and also the Republican nominee for each of the last three presidential election cycles, disputed his loss due to unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Are the Wizards playing on Jan. 6, 2025? No. But they will be in the area during this now potentially anxious day. Washington will play at home on the night before when they host the New Orleans Pelicans and the night after against the Houston Rockets. Capital One Arena is not hosting anything on the 6th.
That said, the Wizards have played games on Jan. 6 in the year a presidential term starts, including hosting games on that day. In fact, they have done so in each of the last six cycles. Here are the results:
- Jan. 6, 2021: The Wizards played on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers, losing 141-136.
- Jan. 6, 2017: The Wizards hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves, winning 112-105.
- Jan. 6, 2013: The Wizards played on the road against the Miami Heat, losing 99-71.
- Jan. 6, 2009: The Wizards played on the road against the Orlando Magic, losing 89-80.
- Jan. 6, 2005: The Wizards hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder (then the Seattle SuperSonics), winning 107-96.
- Jan. 6, 2001: The Wizards hosted the Dallas Mavericks, losing 103-85.
The Wizards will not play on Inauguration Day, which also happens to be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Harris or Trump will take the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 to be the 47th President of the United States, succeeding current U.S. President Joe Biden. Given that Jan. 20 is also on a Monday, it is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. MLK Day is a significant game day for the Wizards because they usually play a home matinee on that day.
But given that the Presidential Inauguration is happening, the Wizards won’t be in town then. In this season, they will be in the middle of a six game road trip and won’t be playing on the 20th at all. In fact, the Wizards (and the NHL’s Capitals) are never home during this time.
In short, the Wizards are never in town when a Presidential Inauguration happens so any game they play at this time is on the road. Locally, hotel prices are through the roof, and there is a lot of traffic gridlock from morning until night due to all of the pomp and circumstance of these kinds of events.
That said, it’s a coincidence that the Wizards haven’t played on a Presidential Inauguration Day since Jan. 20, 1997 when the then-Washington Bullets lost to the New York Knicks, 95-79 on the road. Also, Washington was supposed to play the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 20, 2021, but the game was postponed due to half of the team getting the coronavirus in mid-January during the peak of the pandemic before vaccines were available.
Will Joe Biden go to a Wizards game this season? You never know.
President Biden was at two basketball games at the then-Verizon Center previously when he was best known as the U.S. Vice President in Barack Obama’s Administration from 2009-17. First, Biden and Obama watched the USA Basketball men’s national team play Brazil in a friendly on July 17, 2012 before the Olympics that year. After his time in the Obama Administration ended, Biden attended the Wizards’ Game 5 win over the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on April 26. Obama wasn’t there.
While Biden was a more popular Vice President than as a President given his polling numbers, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia are all mostly Democratic Party strongholds based on their voting patterns. It wouldn’t surprise me to watch a game shortly before or after his presidential term ends where the audience will likely give him a warm reception.