Why NBA Players Wear Masks — and No, They Aren’t a Fashion Statement

For the most part, basketball is considered a no-contact sport, though it’s technically categorized as one, it’s nowhere near as intense as collision sports like football and hockey.

So, when an NBA player shows up wearing a mask, especially like the one Louisville Cardinals’s James Scott wore in early 2025 that gave a major nod to Hannibal Lecter’s iconic look, it definitely sparked some curiosity.

Why would a basketball player need a mask? Is it just for entertainment or aesthetic purposes? Well, wonder no more as we’ve got the answer.

NBA players sometimes wear masks to protect facial injuries from getting worse after being hit or bumped. Depending on the injury, the masks can be configured in different ways — some are clear and cover the eyes and upper face, while others, like James’s, cover the nose and mouth. It all depends on the type of injury and the area that needs protecting. Face masks allow players with less serious injuries to keep playing without putting themselves at risk for further damage.

Facial injuries usually happen when a player takes an elbow to the face or gets hit by the ball. While they aren’t as common as strains, sprains, or stress injuries — roughly one in eight NBA players suffer an injury each season, according to the National Institutes of Health — they still happen. Broken noses, fractured cheekbones or jaws, and facial lacerations are all injuries that might require a mask. Eye injuries can also land a player in a mask, depending on the severity.

So, for anyone who thought an NBA player threw on a mask just to intimidate the other team, while the design might pull that off, that's not actually the reason. In fact, some players find the masks more of a nuisance than a statement, and some would rather not wear them at all.

Now that you know why NBA players wear masks, and how important they are considering their job is to protect a healing injury, you’re probably wondering why some players take them off mid-game.

Take Luka Dončić, for example, in February 2024. He was wearing a clear face mask to protect his cheek, eyes, and nose, but removed it while still on the court. When asked by Abby Jones about it afterward, he replied, "No, I can’t. It’s not fit to my face. I just risked getting hit and I didn’t get hit. So, we’re good."

It was definitely a risk as another hit to his already broken nose could have made things worse. But apparently, it was one Luka was willing to take. After all, even a clear mask can mess with a player’s visibility, and with so much on the line, he clearly wasn’t about to let anything interfere with his game.

Jaylen Brown was another player who removed his protective face mask in the middle of a game — in April 2023 — and it actually improved his performance. He had been wearing it since the beginning of February after suffering a fracture from an elbow to the face delivered by teammate Jayson Tatum.

Clearly, some players are willing to risk worsening their injuries to ensure their performance is on par, but face masks are a preventative measure to keep their injuries safe.