| name | nba-data |
| description | NBA data via ESPN public endpoints, the NBA live CDN, and NBA Stats (stats.nba.com) — scores, standings, rosters, schedules, game summaries, play-by-play, injuries, futures, depth charts, leaders, and news, plus an analytics backend: advanced ratings, per-shot court coordinates, career splits, and history to 1946. Zero config, no API keys.
Use when: user asks about NBA scores, standings, team rosters, schedules, game stats, box scores, play-by-play, injuries, transactions, betting futures, depth charts, team/player statistics, NBA news, shot charts, advanced ratings/pace, career stats, or historical NBA seasons.
Don't use when: user asks about WNBA (use wnba-data), college basketball (use cbb-data), or other sports.
|
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"author":"machina-sports","version":"0.1.0"} |
NBA Data
Before writing queries, consult references/api-reference.md for endpoints, ID conventions, and data shapes.
Setup
Before first use, check if the CLI is available:
which sports-skills || pip install sports-skills
If pip install fails with a Python version error, the package requires Python 3.10+. Find a compatible Python:
python3 --version
No API keys required.
Quick Start
Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues:
sports-skills nba get_scoreboard
sports-skills nba get_standings --season=2025
sports-skills nba get_teams
CRITICAL: Before Any Query
CRITICAL: Before calling any data endpoint, verify:
- Season year is derived from the system prompt's
currentDate — never hardcoded.
- If only a team name is provided, call
get_teams to resolve the team ID before using team-specific commands.
Choosing the Season
Derive the current year from the system prompt's date (e.g., currentDate: 2026-02-18 → current year is 2026).
- If the user specifies a season, use it as-is.
- If the user says "current", "this season", or doesn't specify: The NBA season runs October–June. If the current month is October–December, the active season year matches the current year. If January–June, the active season started the previous calendar year (use that year as the season).
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|
get_scoreboard | Live/recent NBA scores |
get_standings | Standings by conference |
get_teams | All 30 NBA teams |
get_team_roster | Full roster for a team |
get_team_schedule | Schedule for a specific team |
get_game_summary | Detailed box score and scoring plays |
get_leaders | NBA statistical leaders |
get_news | NBA news articles |
get_play_by_play | Full play-by-play for a game |
get_win_probability | Win probability chart data |
get_schedule | Schedule for a specific date or season |
get_injuries | Injury reports across all teams |
get_transactions | Recent transactions |
get_futures | Futures/odds markets |
get_depth_chart | Depth chart for a team |
get_team_stats | Team statistical profile |
get_player_stats | Player statistical profile |
find_nba_player | Search the NBA Stats player registry (all eras) |
get_nbastats_game_log | League game log via NBA Stats — history to 1946, carries NBA game ids |
get_nbastats_player_career | Career stats season by season via NBA Stats |
get_nbastats_team_stats | League team stats via NBA Stats — advanced ratings, pace, four factors |
get_nbastats_shot_chart | Per-shot court coordinates via NBA Stats |
get_nbastats_play_by_play |
See references/api-reference.md for full parameter lists and return shapes.
Using ESPN and NBA Stats Together
The get_nbastats_* commands read stats.nba.com — the analytics layer (advanced
ratings, shot coordinates, deep history) that ESPN's endpoints do not carry. The
two sources use unrelated id systems:
- Game ids. NBA Stats uses 10-digit ids (
"0022400061"); ESPN uses event ids
("401704627"). There is no shared column — join on the game date plus the two
team abbreviations.
- Team abbreviations. Six teams are spelled differently: ESPN
GS/NO/NY/
SA/UTAH/WSH vs NBA GSW/NOP/NYK/SAS/UTA/WAS. Every
get_nbastats_* team filter accepts either spelling, and result rows carry both
(team_abbreviation and team_abbreviation_espn).
- Player ids. NBA person ids (
"203999") and ESPN athlete ids are unrelated.
Resolve names with find_nba_player; ASCII spellings match accented names
("jokic" finds "Nikola Jokić").
- Seasons. Pass the starting year (
season=2024 means 2024-25). The NBA form
("2024-25") is also accepted.
stats.nba.com throttles by client and volume: heavy bursts (and many
datacenter/cloud IPs) get silently tarpitted rather than refused. The commands
fail fast with an explanatory error when that happens — wait before retrying;
do not hammer. Responses are cached, and the ESPN-backed and get_live_*
commands are unaffected.
Examples
Example 1: Today's scores
User says: "What are today's NBA scores?"
Actions:
- Call
get_scoreboard()
Result: All live and recent NBA games with scores and status
Example 2: Conference standings
User says: "Show me the Western Conference standings"
Actions:
- Derive season year from
currentDate
- Call
get_standings(season=<derived_year>)
- Filter results for Western Conference
Result: Western Conference standings table with W-L, PCT, GB per team
Example 3: Team roster
User says: "Who's on the Lakers roster?"
Actions:
- Call
get_team_roster(team_id="13")
Result: Full Lakers roster with name, position, jersey number, height, weight
Example 4: Game box score
User says: "Show me the full box score for last night's Celtics game"
Actions:
- Call
get_scoreboard(date="<yesterday>") to find the event_id
- Call
get_game_summary(event_id=<id>) for full box score
Result: Complete box score with per-player stats and scoring plays
Example 5: Injury report
User says: "Who's injured on the Lakers?"
Actions:
- Call
get_injuries()
- Filter results for Los Angeles Lakers (team_id=13)
Result: Lakers injury list with player name, position, status, and injury type
Example 6: Player statistics
User says: "Show me LeBron's stats this season"
Actions:
- Derive season year from
currentDate
- Call
get_player_stats(player_id="1966", season_year=<derived_year>)
Result: Season stats by category with value, rank, and per-game averages
Commands that DO NOT exist — never call these
get_oddsget_betting_oddssearch_teamsget_teams instead.get_box_scoreget_game_summary instead.get_player_ratingsget_player_stats instead.
If a command is not listed in the Commands table above, it does not exist.
Error Handling
When a command fails, do not surface raw errors to the user. Instead:
- Catch silently and try alternatives
- If team name given instead of ID, use
get_teams to find the ID first
- Only report failure with a clean message after exhausting alternatives
Troubleshooting
Error: sports-skills command not found
Cause: Package not installed
Solution: Run pip install sports-skills
Error: Team not found by ID
Cause: Wrong or outdated ESPN team ID used
Solution: Call get_teams to get the current list of all 30 NBA teams with their IDs
Error: No data returned for a future game
Cause: ESPN only returns data for completed or in-progress games
Solution: Use get_schedule to see upcoming game details; get_scoreboard only covers active/recent games
Error: Offseason — scoreboard returns 0 events
Cause: No games scheduled during the offseason (July–September)
Solution: Use get_standings or get_news instead; use get_schedule to find when the season resumes
