# NBA Data Scraper — Scores, Standings, Teams & Rosters (`straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper`) Actor

NBA games & live scores, conference standings, all 30 teams and team rosters from ESPN's public API. Keyless. For sports apps, fantasy, betting & dashboards.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Dev D](https://apify.com/straightforward_hydra) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 5 total users, 0 monthly users, 93.3% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 one nba rows

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## NBA Data Scraper — Scores, Standings, Teams & Rosters 🏀

**NBA games and live scores, conference standings, all 30 teams and full team rosters — from ESPN's public API. No API key.**

Four modes, one clean dataset per run. Perfect for **sports apps, fantasy tools, betting models, dashboards and datasets**.

***

### Modes

| Mode | What you get |
|---|---|
| **scoreboard** | Games for today (or any date): teams, live/final scores, status, records, venue. |
| **standings** | Conference standings: wins, losses, win %, games behind, playoff seed. |
| **teams** | All 30 teams: name, abbreviation, location, colors, logo, arena. |
| **roster** | Every player on a team: position, jersey, age, height, weight, college. |

### Examples

**Today's games**

```json
{ "mode": "scoreboard" }
```

**Games on a specific date**

```json
{ "mode": "scoreboard", "date": "2026-01-15" }
```

**Standings**

```json
{ "mode": "standings" }
```

**A team's roster**

```json
{ "mode": "roster", "team": "LAL" }
```

### Use cases

- **Sports apps & dashboards** — scores, standings and rosters without paying for a data feed.
- **Fantasy & betting models** — team records, matchups and player info.
- **Datasets** — a clean, structured NBA snapshot.

### Notes

- **No API key, no proxy.** Uses ESPN's public JSON endpoints.
- **`team`** accepts an abbreviation (`LAL`, `BOS`, `GSW`…) or a numeric ESPN team id.
- **`date`** is `YYYY-MM-DD`; leave blank for today's slate (empty in the off-season — pass a date during the season).
- Data belongs to ESPN/the NBA; use responsibly.

***

#### Keywords

NBA, basketball, scores, live scores, standings, teams, rosters, players, sports data, fantasy, betting, ESPN, scoreboard, schedule, no API key.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to fetch.

## `date` (type: `string`):

Day of games as YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. "2026-01-15"). Leave blank for today's slate.

## `team` (type: `string`):

Team abbreviation (e.g. "LAL", "BOS", "GSW") or numeric ESPN team id. Required for roster mode.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "scoreboard",
  "team": "LAL"
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "team": "LAL"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "team": "LAL" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "team": "LAL"
}' |
apify call straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,straightforward_hydra/nba-data-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/9DHtQ51TQJOFZBCg5/builds/Io35wOh52wJDhLE32/openapi.json