Basketball fans who want to keep up with the latest NBA league action can now do so from the command line.
NBA Go is a new, open-source utility that streams the latest NBA real-time scores direct to the terminal.
It makes the perfect basketball companion for those who want to keep tabs on a match-up, but don’t have the time, tv package, or bandwidth to stream the game itself.
NBA Go uses the official stats.nba.com APIs. This keeps it fed with accurate, realtime, up-to-the-minute info, direct from source.
Terminal Based
Before we look at its features in a little more detail I should preface this post by mentioning that I’m a Brit. And over here basketball isn’t really a “thing”. The only basket-based sport we have in the UK is ‘Supermarket Sweep’. So if any of the basketball terminology that follows is incorrectly do accept my apologies!
‘NBA Go’ Lets You Watch NBA Games from the Terminal
NBA Go is an open source terminal tool that lets you “watch NBA games” from the terminal.
Admittedly “watch” is a little leading as the app is entirely text based (lest anyone get excited thinking the app is similar to the one that lets you watch Star Wars in a terminal).
For those who want to keep a literal eye on the game while they’re wrist deep in code should check out NBA Go. The feature set and design make it a must-have for tech-minded NBA fans who want to swat up on stats both before, during and after a game.
Although it’s “just” a command line tool NBA Go is beautifully designed and laid out.
The interactive layout also makes it fairly simple to use. The few command arguments it supports are memorable enough, and the feature set rich and varied.
It is, to my eyes at least, one of the most novel uses of the CLI I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s clearly been developed and honed by someone with a real passion for the sport.
NBA Go Features include:
- Quickly view scheduled games by date
- 3 modes: pregame, live and final
- View team information/stats
- View player information/stats
Install NBA Go from NPM
You can install NBA Go on any modern Linux distribution and on macOS though NPM (available in the Ubuntu repos) by running this command:
sudo npm install -g nba-go
Using NBA Go to see basketball scores
To find details about games on a specific date you’d run the app as follows, adding the specific date you wish to query after the date (-d) flag:
nba-go game -d 2017/11/11
The app also lets pass arguments in place of a date, letting you view a list games played yesterday (-y), games set to play today (-t) or view a list NBA games playing tomorrow (-T)
When you’ve found a game you want to view more details on you can select it from the on-screen list using your keyboard cursor keys. Hit enter when the caret is in place to view game details right away.
If you select a game that is not in progress NBA Go will display the pregame screen:
Pregame mode serves up a basic summary on the game, including start time, so that you can swat up on all the salient stats before tip off. You can also dive to view detailed comparison data of the two teams, with average points, field goal percents, average assists, etc.
When a game is live the app shows the (beautifully designed) live mode (which is best viewed maximised):
Live mode streams realtime play-by-play in a scrollable section), game previews, box score and player information inside your terminal emulator of choice.
When a game is finished you’ll see final mode:
Final mode provides a detailed scoreboard and box score for the two competing teams, notable match information, and so on.
Refer to the Usage section on the NBA Go Github page for more details on the features, options and flags the app supports.
In all, NBA Go provides a crazy amount of detail, enough for even the most ardent NBA fan to enjoy, in a straightforward, attractive package.