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Basketball Reference API

Complete NBA historical statistics since 1946

8.8 / 10Very GoodVerified
Basketball
Starting PriceFree
Free TierYes
Live DataNo
WebSocketNo
Commercial UseNo
Visit WebsiteView Documentation

Overview

Basketball Reference is the definitive source for historical NBA and college basketball statistics, covering every player, team, and game since the NBA's founding in 1946. Part of the Sports Reference family, it provides career stats, season splits, game logs, advanced metrics (PER, TS%, usage rate, win shares), box scores, shot locations, and draft data. The data is accessible through community Python packages and web scraping, making it essential for basketball analytics, fantasy basketball, and academic research.

Pros

  • Most comprehensive NBA historical data
  • Data going back to 1946
  • Advanced metrics (PER, TS%, win shares)
  • ABA and WNBA coverage
  • College basketball data
  • Play Index for custom queries

Cons

  • No official public REST API
  • Data access primarily via scraping
  • No commercial use without license
  • No real-time or live data
  • Scraping may violate ToS
  • No WebSocket streaming

Best For

NBA analytics researchBasketball history projectsPlayer and team comparisonsFantasy basketball researchAcademic sports analytics

Not Ideal For

Live game trackingReal-time applicationsCommercial products without licenseBetting platforms needing live data

Specifications

REST APIYes
GraphQLNo
WebSocketNo
WebhooksNo
OpenAPI SpecNo
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo
Historical Data1946-47 season onward (NBA/BAA); ABA 1967-1976; complete postseason history; WNBA from 1997
Request LimitsWeb-based access; rate limited for scraping
Commercial UseNo
RedistributionNo
White LabelNo

SDKs

PythonR

Leagues

NBAABAWNBACollege BasketballNBLG LeagueInternational (FIBA)
Last verified: 2026-08-15

Our Verdict

8.8/ 10

Basketball Reference API is a top-tier sports API that excels in nba analytics research and basketball history projects. With an overall score of 8.8/10, it stands out for its most comprehensive nba historical data and data going back to 1946.

Editorial: 9.0/10Benchmark: 8.5/10How we score →
Data verified: 2026-08-15
✓ Pricing checked✓ Coverage checked✓ Docs checked

Coverage

Sports Supported

Basketball
Live DataNo
Historical Data1946-47 season onward (NBA/BAA); ABA 1967-1976; complete postseason history; WNBA from 1997
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo

Leagues & Competitions

NBAABAWNBACollege BasketballNBLG LeagueInternational (FIBA)

7 leagues and competitions covered

Developer Experience

API Paradigms

✓REST
✗GraphQL
✗WebSocket
✗Webhooks

SDKs

PythonR

Documentation

View Documentation →Changelog →

Commercial Terms

✗Commercial use
✗Redistribution
✗White-label
Rate limit: Web-based access; rate limited for scraping

Pricing Plans

Free Web Access

Free

N/A

  • All stat tables
  • Player pages
  • Team pages
  • Season and career stats

Stathead Basketball

$9.99/month

Unlimited queries

  • Play Index
  • Game finders
  • Player finders
  • Split finders
  • Custom queries

Stathead Annual

$75/year

Unlimited queries

  • All Stathead features
  • Priority support
  • Savings over monthly

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Top Lists & Rankings

Best Sports APIs 2026 →Best Free Sports APIs →Best Fantasy Sports APIs →All Best Lists →

Developer Guides

Build a Live Score App →Caching Sports Data →Rate Limit Handling →Error Handling & Retry →All Developer Guides →