Player Statistics Schema

Overview

Player statistics are organized across multiple CSV files, each focusing on different aspects of performance. All player datasets share common identifier fields and can be joined using nba_id (or PLAYER_ID) and year.

Core Player Files

scoring.csv

Basic scoring efficiency and volume metrics. File: scoring.csv / scoring_ps.csv

Player

string

required

Player full name

nba_id

integer

required

Unique player identifier for joining with other datasets

year

integer

required

Season year (e.g., 2014, 2015)

string

Team abbreviation (e.g., “LAL”, “GSW”, “TOT” for players traded mid-season)

integer

Games played

float

Total minutes played for the season

PTS

float

Total points scored

TS%

float

True shooting percentage: PTS / (2 * (FGA + 0.44 * FTA))Accounts for the value of 3-pointers and free throws.

Example:

Player,TS%,PTS,MP,Tm,G,year,nba_id
Zaid Abdul-Aziz,51.5,15.9,2459.0,HOU,79,1974,76002.0

totals.csv

Comprehensive box score statistics including shooting attempts. File: totals.csv / totals_ps.csv

Player

string

required

Player full name

nba_id

integer

required

Unique player identifier

year

integer

required

Season year

string

Team abbreviation

integer

Games played

float

Total minutes played

PTS

float

Total points

FGA

integer

Field goal attempts

FTA

integer

Free throw attempts

TS%

float

True shooting percentage

player_shooting.csv

Detailed shooting metrics broken down by shot coverage and distance. File: player_shooting.csv / player_shooting_p.csv

PLAYER_ID

integer

required

Unique player identifier (equivalent to nba_id)

PLAYER

string

required

Player name

year

integer

required

Season year

shot_type

string

required

Shot coverage category:

wide_open: Defender 6+ feet away
open: Defender 4-6 feet away
tight: Defender 2-4 feet away
very_tight: Defender 0-2 feet away

TEAM

string

Team abbreviation

AGE

float

Player age during the season

integer

Games played

integer

Games started

FREQ%

float

Frequency percentage - what portion of player’s shots fall into this category

FGM

integer

Field goals made

FGA

integer

Field goals attempted

FG%

float

Field goal percentage (0-100 scale)

EFG%

float

Effective field goal percentage: (FGM + 0.5 * 3PM) / FGA

2FG FREQ%

float

Frequency of 2-point attempts within this shot type

2FGM

integer

2-point field goals made

2FGA

integer

2-point field goals attempted

2FG%

float

2-point field goal percentage

3FG FREQ%

float

Frequency of 3-point attempts within this shot type

3PM

integer

3-pointers made

3PA

integer

3-pointers attempted

3P%

float

3-point percentage

Example:

PLAYER_ID,PLAYER,TEAM,AGE,GP,G,FREQ%,FGM,FGA,FG%,EFG%,...,year,shot_type
201933,Blake Griffin,LAC,25.0,80,78,26.5,149,342,43.6,44.9,...,2014,wide_open

Tracking & Movement Data

tracking.csv

Player movement, touches, and play-type statistics. File: tracking.csv / tracking_p.csv / tracking_ps.csv

PLAYER_ID

integer

required

Unique player identifier

PLAYER

string

Player name

TEAM

string

Team abbreviation

year

integer

required

Season year

type

string

Tracking category:

drives: Drives to the basket
touches: Touch statistics
pull_up: Pull-up shooting
catch_shoot: Catch-and-shoot opportunities
defense: Defensive tracking

integer

Games played

integer

Wins

integer

Losses

MIN

float

Minutes played

DRIVES

integer

Number of drives (for drive tracking)

FGM

integer

Field goals made

FGA

integer

Field goals attempted

FG%

float

Field goal percentage

FTM

integer

Free throws made

FTA

integer

Free throws attempted

FT%

float

Free throw percentage

PTS

float

Points scored

PTS%

float

Percentage of team’s points

PASS

integer

Passes made

PASS%

float

Pass percentage

AST

integer

Assists

AST%

float

Assist percentage

integer

Turnovers

TOV%

float

Turnover percentage

integer

Personal fouls

PF%

float

Foul percentage

3PM

integer

3-pointers made

3PA

integer

3-pointers attempted

3P%

float

3-point percentage

eFG%

float

Effective field goal percentage

Touches

integer

Total touches (for touch tracking)

hustle.csv

Hustle statistics including deflections, loose balls, screens, and distance traveled. File: hustle.csv / hustle_ps.csv

PLAYER_ID

integer

required

Unique player identifier

PLAYER_NAME

string

Player name

TEAM_ID

integer

Team identifier

TEAM_ABBREVIATION

string

Team abbreviation

year

integer

required

Season year

AGE

integer

Player age

integer

Games played

integer

Games played (duplicate field)

integer

Wins

integer

Losses

MIN

float

Minutes played

CONTESTED_SHOTS

integer

Total contested shots

CONTESTED_SHOTS_2PT

integer

Contested 2-point shots

CONTESTED_SHOTS_3PT

integer

Contested 3-point shots

DEFLECTIONS

integer

Deflections recorded

CHARGES_DRAWN

integer

Charges drawn

SCREEN_ASSISTS

integer

Screen assists - screens leading to made baskets

SCREEN_AST_PTS

integer

Points generated from screen assists

OFF_LOOSE_BALLS_RECOVERED

integer

Offensive loose balls recovered

DEF_LOOSE_BALLS_RECOVERED

integer

Defensive loose balls recovered

LOOSE_BALLS_RECOVERED

integer

Total loose balls recovered

PCT_LOOSE_BALLS_RECOVERED_OFF

float

Percentage of loose balls recovered on offense

PCT_LOOSE_BALLS_RECOVERED_DEF

float

Percentage of loose balls recovered on defense

OFF_BOXOUTS

integer

Offensive box outs

DEF_BOXOUTS

integer

Defensive box outs

BOX_OUT_PLAYER_TEAM_REBS

integer

Team rebounds resulting from box outs

BOX_OUT_PLAYER_REBS

integer

Player rebounds resulting from box outs

BOX_OUTS

integer

Total box outs

PCT_BOX_OUTS_OFF

float

Percentage of offensive box outs

PCT_BOX_OUTS_DEF

float

Percentage of defensive box outs

PCT_BOX_OUTS_TEAM_REB

float

Box out to team rebound percentage

PCT_BOX_OUTS_REB

float

Box out to rebound percentage

DIST_FEET

float

Total distance traveled in feet

DIST_MILES

float

Total distance traveled in miles

DIST_MILES_OFF

float

Distance traveled on offense (miles)

DIST_MILES_DEF

float

Distance traveled on defense (miles)

AVG_SPEED

float

Average speed (mph)

AVG_SPEED_OFF

float

Average speed on offense (mph)

AVG_SPEED_DEF

float

Average speed on defense (mph)

POSS

integer

Possessions played

Defense Data

defense_master.csv

Defensive field goal percentage metrics. File: defense_master.csv / defense_master_ps.csv

nba_id

integer

required

Unique player identifier

PLAYER

string

Player name

Team

string

Team abbreviation

team_id

integer

Team identifier

year

integer

required

Season year

overall_dfg%

float

Overall defensive field goal percentage - FG% when guarding any shot

all_dfga

integer

All defensive field goal attempts contested

all_dfgm

integer

All defensive field goals made against

dif%

float

Difference percentage - how much better/worse opponents shoot vs their average

rim_dfg%

float

Defensive FG% at the rim

rim_dfga

integer

Attempts defended at the rim

rim_dfgm

integer

Made shots at the rim when defended

rim_dif%

float

Rim defense difference vs shooter’s average

passing.csv

Passing and ball-handling statistics. File: passing.csv / passing_ps.csv

nba_id

integer

required

Unique player identifier

Name

string

Player name

year

integer

required

Season year

integer

Games played

Minutes

float

Total minutes

Points

integer

Total points

Assists

integer

Total assists

Potential Assists

integer

Passes that would be assists if the shot was made

POTENTIAL_AST

integer

Potential assists (duplicate field)

Passes

integer

Total passes made

PASSES_RECEIVED

integer

Passes received

AST_PTS_CREATED

integer

Points created from assists

AST_TO_PASS_PCT

float

Assist to pass percentage

AST_TO_PASS_PCT_ADJ

float

Adjusted assist to pass percentage

SECONDARY_AST

integer

Secondary assists (pass to the assister)

ThreePtAssists

integer

Assists on 3-pointers

AtRimAssists

integer

Assists at the rim

High Value Assist %

float

Percentage of assists that are high value (dunks, layups, open 3s)

Assist PPP

float

Points per play on assists

TOUCHES

integer

Total touches

AVG_SEC_PER_TOUCH

float

Average seconds per touch

AVG_DRIB_PER_TOUCH

float

Average dribbles per touch

PTS_PER_TOUCH

float

Points per touch

Turnovers

integer

Total turnovers

BadPassTurnovers

integer

Turnovers from bad passes

BadPassSteals

integer

Steals from bad passes

TsPct

float

True shooting percentage

Usage Examples

Finding Elite Catch-and-Shoot Players

import pandas as pd

# Load player shooting data
shooting = pd.read_csv('player_shooting.csv')

# Filter for wide open 3-point attempts
wide_open_3s = shooting[
    (shooting['shot_type'] == 'wide_open') &
    (shooting['3PA'] >= 100)  # Minimum attempts
].sort_values('3P%', ascending=False)

print(wide_open_3s[['PLAYER', 'TEAM', '3PM', '3PA', '3P%', 'year']].head(10))

Analyzing Hustle Impact

# Load hustle data
hustle = pd.read_csv('hustle.csv')

# Players who excel at deflections per minute
hustle['DEFL_PER_MIN'] = hustle['DEFLECTIONS'] / hustle['MIN']

top_deflectors = hustle[
    hustle['MIN'] >= 1000
].sort_values('DEFL_PER_MIN', ascending=False)

print(top_deflectors[['PLAYER_NAME', 'TEAM_ABBREVIATION', 'DEFLECTIONS', 'DEFL_PER_MIN']].head(10))

Join Multiple Player Datasets

# Combine scoring efficiency with tracking data
scoring = pd.read_csv('scoring.csv')
tracking = pd.read_csv('tracking.csv')

# Filter tracking for drives only
drives = tracking[tracking['type'] == 'drives']

# Merge on player ID and year
merged = pd.merge(
    scoring,
    drives,
    left_on=['nba_id', 'year'],
    right_on=['PLAYER_ID', 'year'],
    how='inner'
)

print(merged[['Player', 'TS%', 'PTS', 'DRIVES', 'FG%']].head())

Get Started

Data Collections

Scripts & Automation

Data Schema

Overview

Core Player Files

scoring.csv

totals.csv

player_shooting.csv

Tracking & Movement Data

tracking.csv

hustle.csv

Defense Data

defense_master.csv

passing.csv

Usage Examples

Finding Elite Catch-and-Shoot Players

Analyzing Hustle Impact

Join Multiple Player Datasets

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Data Collections

Scripts & Automation

Data Schema

​Overview

​Core Player Files

​scoring.csv

​totals.csv

​player_shooting.csv

​Tracking & Movement Data

​tracking.csv

​hustle.csv

​Defense Data

​defense_master.csv

​passing.csv

​Usage Examples

​Finding Elite Catch-and-Shoot Players

​Analyzing Hustle Impact

​Join Multiple Player Datasets

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Core Player Files

scoring.csv

totals.csv

player_shooting.csv

Tracking & Movement Data

tracking.csv

hustle.csv

Defense Data

defense_master.csv

passing.csv

Usage Examples

Finding Elite Catch-and-Shoot Players

Analyzing Hustle Impact

Join Multiple Player Datasets