BallDontLie NBA API
api.balldontlie.io · Media
NBA stats API — players, teams, games, and season averages going back to 1979. Free tier available, no credit card required.
Authentication
API Key authentication
Free API key at balldontlie.io — no credit card. Pass as Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY.
Sample Requests
GET
Search players
Search for NBA players by name.
https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players?search=lebron
Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does
Headers — extra info sent with the request
| Authorization | Bearer YOUR_API_KEY |
curl -X GET "https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players?search=lebron" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
import requests
params = {
"search": "lebron"
}
headers = {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
"https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players",
params=params,
headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())const url = new URL('https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players');
url.searchParams.set('search', 'lebron');
const response = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
},
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);package main
import (
"fmt"
"io"
"net/http"
"net/url"
)
func main() {
baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players")
q := baseURL.Query()
q.Set("search", "lebron")
baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
targetURL := baseURL.String()
req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY")
client := &http.Client{}
resp, _ := client.Do(req)
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
fmt.Println(string(body))
}require "net/http"
require "json"
uri = URI("https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
"search" => "lebron"
})
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)<?php
$url = "https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/players?" . http_build_query([
"search" => "lebron"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
"method" => "GET",
"header" => implode("\r\n", [
"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));
GET
Get season averages
Get LeBron James 2023-24 season averages.
https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages?season=2023&player_ids=237
Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does
Headers — extra info sent with the request
| Authorization | Bearer YOUR_API_KEY |
curl -X GET "https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages?season=2023&player_ids=237" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
import requests
params = {
"season": "2023",
"player_ids": "237"
}
headers = {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
"https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages",
params=params,
headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())const url = new URL('https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages');
url.searchParams.set('season', '2023');
url.searchParams.set('player_ids', '237');
const response = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
},
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);package main
import (
"fmt"
"io"
"net/http"
"net/url"
)
func main() {
baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages")
q := baseURL.Query()
q.Set("season", "2023")
q.Set("player_ids", "237")
baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
targetURL := baseURL.String()
req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY")
client := &http.Client{}
resp, _ := client.Do(req)
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
fmt.Println(string(body))
}require "net/http"
require "json"
uri = URI("https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
"season" => "2023",
"player_ids" => "237"
})
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)<?php
$url = "https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/season_averages?" . http_build_query([
"season" => "2023",
"player_ids" => "237"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
"method" => "GET",
"header" => implode("\r\n", [
"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));Postman Setup Guide
- Get a free API key at balldontlie.io (no credit card)
- Set Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY header
- Search players: GET /v1/players?search=curry
- Season averages: GET /v1/season_averages?season=2023&player_ids={id}
What can you build with BallDontLie NBA API?
BallDontLie NBA API is a Media API. Developers commonly use media APIs for:
- storing and delivering images, video, and audio
- building digital asset management and media libraries
- transcoding and optimising media for the web
- adding video streaming and playback to your app
- automating content tagging and metadata extraction
API Key authentication. You'll receive a key after signing up. Send it with every request — in a header or query parameter. Keep it out of client-side code and never commit it to version control. BallDontLie NBA API is free to use up to a usage limit, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.
New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide