Is there a free NBA play-by-play API?

Yes. A free key (no card) includes every endpoint and league: 1,000 calls in the first 30 days, then 125 a month at 1 request per second. Paid plans start at $29/month for 10,000 calls and add webhooks and WebSocket.

Can I stream NBA plays live?

On paid plans, each new play is also pushed to you: webhooks send event.play and the WebSocket stream sends event_play, so you don't have to poll the plays endpoint during a game.

How far behind live is the NBA play-by-play?

Data typically runs 20-30 seconds behind live play, so it suits apps, alerts, dashboards and bots, not in-play betting.

NBA play-by-play API

Every NBA play in order, live or final: the play text, type, clock, quarter and score after the play, from a supported API rather than a scraper.

Data is aggregated from public sources and is typically 20-30 seconds behind live play (about 1 second after our source). There is no SLA.

AvailableReturned NBA data when checked.

Get a free API key See plans

Endpoint

GET/api/v1/sports/basketball/leagues/nba/events/{eventId}/plays

Live NBA example

Request

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $RSA_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1/sports/basketball/leagues/nba/events/401909287/plays?limit=3"

Response captured from live data at 2026-11-07 13:48 UTC (refreshed every few minutes). Long arrays are trimmed; meta.rateLimit values are illustrative for a Free key. Plays from Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks.

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "4019092874",
      "sequenceNumber": "4",
      "text": "Alex Sarr vs. Onyeka Okongwu (Kyshawn George gains possession)",
      "shortText": "Jumpball: WASHINGTON controls the tip.",
      "alternativeText": "Alex Sarr vs. Onyeka Okongwu (Kyshawn George gains possession)",
      "type": {
        "id": "615",
        "text": "Jumpball"
      },
      "period": 1,
      "clock": {
        "value": 720,
        "displayValue": "12:00"
      },
      "wallClock": "2026-11-07T00:10:15Z",
      "homeScore": 0,
      "awayScore": 0,
      "scoringPlay": false,
      "scoreValue": 0,
      "situation": null,
      "endSituation": null,
      "athletes": [
        {
          "id": "5160992",
          "name": "Alex Sarr",
          "displayName": "Alex Sarr",
          "shortName": "A. Sarr",
          "position": "C",
          "team": {
            "id": "27"
          },
          "order": 1
        },
        {
          "id": "4431680",
          "name": "Onyeka Okongwu",
          "displayName": "Onyeka Okongwu",
          "shortName": "O. Okongwu",
          "position": "F",
          "team": {
            "id": "1"
          },
          "order": 2
        },
        {
          "id": "5174563",
          "name": "Kyshawn George",
          "displayName": "Kyshawn George",
          "shortName": "K. George",
          "position": "F",
          "team": {
            "id": "27"
          },
          "order": 3
        }
      ],
      "priority": false,
      "modified": "2026-11-07T00:10Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "4019092877",
      "sequenceNumber": "7",
      "text": "Kyshawn George misses 11-foot step back jumpshot",
      "shortText": "K. George misses 11-foot step back jumpshot",
      "alternativeText": "Kyshawn George misses 11-foot step back jumpshot",
      "type": {
        "id": "132",
        "text": "Step Back Jump Shot"
      },
      "period": 1,
      "clock": {
        "value": 701,
        "displayValue": "11:41"
      },
      "wallClock": "2026-11-07T00:10:34Z",
      "homeScore": 0,
      "awayScore": 0,
      "scoringPlay": false,
      "scoreValue": 0,
      "situation": null,
      "endSituation": null,
      "athletes": [
        {
          "id": "5174563",
          "name": "Kyshawn George",
          "displayName": "Kyshawn George",
          "shortName": "K. George",
          "position": "F",
          "team": {
            "id": "27"
          },
          "role": "shooter",
          "type": "shooter",
          "order": 1
        }
      ],
      "priority": false,
      "modified": "2026-11-07T00:10Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "4019092878",
      "sequenceNumber": "8",
      "text": "Dyson Daniels defensive rebound",
      "shortText": "D. Daniels defensive rebound",
      "alternativeText": "Dyson Daniels defensive rebound",
      "type": {
        "id": "155",
        "text": "Defensive Rebound"
      },
      "period": 1,
      "clock": {
        "value": 701,
        "displayValue": "11:41"
      },
      "wallClock": "2026-11-07T00:10:34Z",
      "homeScore": 0,
      "awayScore": 0,
      "scoringPlay": false,
      "scoreValue": 0,
      "situation": null,
      "endSituation": null,
      "athletes": [
        {
          "id": "4869342",
          "name": "Dyson Daniels",
          "displayName": "Dyson Daniels",
          "shortName": "D. Daniels",
          "position": "G",
          "team": {
            "id": "1"
          },
          "role": "rebounder",
          "type": "rebounder",
          "order": 1
        }
      ],
      "priority": false,
      "modified": "2026-11-07T00:10Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "page": 1,
      "pageSize": 3,
      "total": 482,
      "totalPages": 161,
      "hasNextPage": true,
      "hasPreviousPage": false
    },
    "rateLimit": {
      "limit": 125,
      "remaining": 124,
      "reset": 1796083200000
    }
  }
}

Code samples

curl

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $RSA_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1/sports/basketball/leagues/nba/events/401909287/plays?limit=3"

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1/sports/basketball/leagues/nba/events/401909287/plays?limit=3", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.RSA_API_KEY}` }
});
const { success, data, meta } = await res.json();
console.log(data, meta.rateLimit);

Python (requests)

import os, requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1/sports/basketball/leagues/nba/events/401909287/plays?limit=3",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['RSA_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=10,
)
body = res.json()
print(body["data"])

MCP prompt (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT)

Using the Realtime Sports MCP server (https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/mcp), call get_plays with sport "basketball" and league "nba" and pick a finished game from get_events and summarize its scoring plays for NBA.

Connect the hosted MCP server first: setup guide. Each tool call counts as one API call.

Each request above is 1 call. Free covers 125 calls a month after a 1,000-call first month, at 1 request/second. Starter is $29/month for 10,000 calls (about 333 a day) plus webhooks and WebSocket, so you stop polling for changes; 7-day free trial. Compare plans

Fields

Field	Type	Notes
id	string
sequenceNumber	string
text	string
shortText	string
alternativeText	string
type	object
period	integer
clock	object
wallClock	string
homeScore	integer
awayScore	integer
scoringPlay	boolean
scoreValue	integer
scoringType	string
situation	object
endSituation	object
yardsGained	integer
teamId	string
athletes	PlayAthlete[]
priority	boolean
modified	string

Rate limits and pricing

Plan	Price	Calls	Rate	WebSocket	Webhooks
Free	$0	125/mo (1,000 first 30 days)	1/s	500 msgs/mo	No
Starter	$29/mo ($290/yr)	10,000/mo	5/s	Shares monthly pool	Shares monthly pool
Growth	$49/mo ($490/yr)	25,000/mo	10/s	Shares monthly pool	Shares monthly pool
Pro	$99/mo ($990/yr)	50,000/mo	20/s	100,000 msgs/mo	25,000/mo
Business	$179/mo ($1,790/yr)	150,000/mo	40/s	300,000 msgs/mo	75,000/mo
Scale	$299/mo ($2,990/yr)	500,000/mo	100/s	500,000 msgs/mo	100,000/mo

Every successful REST call counts as one call. Over the limit you get HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. No SLA. Full pricing.

FAQ

Is there a free NBA play-by-play API?: Yes. A free key (no card) includes every endpoint and league: 1,000 calls in the first 30 days, then 125 a month at 1 request per second. Paid plans start at $29/month for 10,000 calls and add webhooks and WebSocket.
Can I stream NBA plays live?: On paid plans, each new play is also pushed to you: webhooks send event.play and the WebSocket stream sends event_play, so you don't have to poll the plays endpoint during a game.
How far behind live is the NBA play-by-play?: Data typically runs 20-30 seconds behind live play, so it suits apps, alerts, dashboards and bots, not in-play betting.