An MCP Server implementation that integrates the Balldontlie API, to provide information about players, teams and games for the NBA, NFL and MLB
Connect Balldontlie to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. An MCP Server implementation that integrates the Balldontlie API, to provide information about players, teams and games for the NBA, NFL and MLB. The balldontlie mcp server is what makes that connection.
The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:
get_teams — Gets the list of team from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National FootballInputs — - league (enum ['NBA', 'NFL', 'MLB']): The sports league to get teams forget_players — Gets the list of players from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Footballget_games — Gets the list of games from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Footballget_game — Get a specific game from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National FootballConfiguration is passed through the environment: BALLDONTLIE_API_KEY. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.
Because this one is hosted, setup is mostly authentication — you point your client at the endpoint and approve access. Nothing runs on your machine, so there is no runtime to keep patched.
This sits in the team communication group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Balldontlie's toolset — get_teams, Inputs, get_players and 2 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by mikechao; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
This entry was verified against Balldontlie's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| get_teams | Gets the list of team from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League) |
| Inputs | - league (enum ['NBA', 'NFL', 'MLB']): The sports league to get teams for |
| get_players | Gets the list of players from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League) |
| get_games | Gets the list of games from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League) |
| get_game | Get a specific game from one of the following leagues NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League) |
{
"mcpServers": {
"balldontlie": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@smithery/cli"],
"env": {
"BALLDONTLIE_API_KEY": "your-value"
}
}
}
}Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.
| Variable | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| BALLDONTLIE_API_KEY | Credential the server authenticates with. | Yes |
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