# nba-data

Skill for querying NBA scores, team rosters, and shot coordinates via CLI without API keys. Useful for analyzing live game summaries, injuries, and historical league stats back to 1946.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 989 installs · ★ 258
- Author: machina-sports
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/nba-data

## What it does

The skill supplies basketball data to the agent via the `sports-skills` CLI. It queries public ESPN endpoints, the NBA live CDN, and stats.nba.com directly. Available feeds cover live scoreboards, rosters, injury reports, odds futures, and play-by-play logs. Historical data stretches back to 1946, alongside team pace metrics and per-shot court coordinates.

The package requires Python 3.10 or newer, but needs zero API keys. To keep context clean, queries like `get_nbastats_game_log` and `get_nbastats_team_stats` accept `sort_by`, `limit`, and `fields` arguments to return only the requested columns.

ESPN and NBA Stats use separate ID systems for matches and athletes. You cannot join them by ID directly, so the tool relies on game dates and team abbreviations instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill nba-data -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/nba-data/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill nba-data -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill nba-data -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install machina-sports/sports-skills nba-data
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill nba-data -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills --path skills/nba-data
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill nba-data -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/nba-data/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- fetch live NBA scores and conference standings
- retrieve per-shot court coordinates for players
- look up historical game logs and player stats back to 1946
- check league-wide injury reports and depth charts

## Example prompts
- Show today's live NBA scores and box score leaders
- Get shot coordinates and stats for Nikola Jokic in 2024
- Check current injury reports and team depth charts

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: c09ecce4e9f46c1b.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE c09ecce4e9f46c1b
````text
---
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:
```bash
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:
```bash
python3 --version  # check version
# If < 3.10, try: python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills
# On macOS with Homebrew: /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills
```
No API keys required.

## Quick Start

Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues:
```bash
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` | Games on a specific date (no season filter; see `get_team_schedule`) |
| `get_injuries` | Injury reports across all teams |
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE c09ecce4e9f46c1b

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the c09ecce4e9f46c1b tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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