Dribbles

The dribbles section in the markings response contains individual dribble events with handedness, timing, and ball height information.

Overview

Each record represents a single dribble—from when the ball leaves the player's hand to when they touch it again. Occassionally, there are plays that are unclear whether they are dribbles or uncontrolled bouncing of the ball (e.g. a deflection of a pass onto the ground and then picking the ball up).

NOTE

For the purpose of this data set, a dribble is defined as a player having two consecutive touches of the ball with the ball hitting the ground in between. If a dribble is stolen or deflected and the offensive player doesn't recover the ball, that attempted dribble will not be included in this data set.

Sample Response

json

{
  "markings": {
    "dribbles": [
      {
        "chance_id_ctg": "chance_51bfc1fda2cc0deb125bee9988859667",
        "did_switch_hands": false,
        "dribble_end_hand": "left",
        "dribble_end_height_in": 22.19,
        "dribble_hand": "left",
        "dribble_id_ctg": "dribble_f00be85fa245d2860c8f25018a840e62",
        "dribble_start_height_in": 23.26,
        "ball_start_loc_x": -243.31,
        "ball_start_loc_y": -52.18,
        "ball_start_region": "middle three",
        "ball_end_loc_x": -247.6,
        "ball_end_loc_y": -58.44,
        "ball_end_region": "middle three",
        "ballhandler_start_loc_x": -238.12,
        "ballhandler_start_loc_y": -49.93,
        "ballhandler_start_region": "middle three",
        "ballhandler_end_loc_x": -247.2,
        "ballhandler_end_loc_y": -57.31,
        "ballhandler_end_region": "middle three",
        "ball_handler_acceleration": 1.22,
        "ball_handler_feet_from_rim_at_dribble": 31.06,
        "ball_handler_location_at_dribble_x": -21.48,
        "ball_handler_location_at_dribble_y": 9.34,
        "ball_handler_rim_movement_angle_after_dribble": 22.17,
        "ball_handler_rim_movement_angle_before_dribble": 11.43,
        "ball_handler_velocity_after_dribble": 10.25,
        "ball_handler_velocity_before_dribble": 9.03,
        "distance_covered_from_prior_dribble_in_touch": 5.12,
        "end_game_clock": 717,
        "end_he_frame": 252,
        "end_shot_clock": 22,
        "end_wall_clock": "2025-12-23T01:10:38.473+00:00",
        "game_id_nba": "0022500404",
        "nba_game_id": "0022500404",
        "nba_player_id": 1642843,
        "period": 1,
        "player_id_nba": 1642843,
        "num_close_teammates": 1,
        "prior_dribbles_in_touch": 0,
        "start_game_clock": 718,
        "start_he_frame": 241,
        "start_shot_clock": 23,
        "start_wall_clock": "2025-12-23T01:10:37.473+00:00"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Fields

Identifiers

`dribble_id_ctg`

Type: string

CTG-generated unique identifier for this dribble event

`game_id_nba`

Type: string

NBA game ID

`nba_game_id` deprecated

Type: string

NBA game ID

Deprecated

Use game_id_nba instead. This field will be removed in a future version.

`player_id_nba`

Type: integer

NBA player ID of the dribbler

`nba_player_id` deprecated

Type: integer

NBA player ID of the dribbler

Deprecated

Use player_id_nba instead. This field will be removed in a future version.

`chance_id_ctg`

Type: string

CTG chance ID. null if the dribble doesn't fall within any chance window (which could occur due to a data error, e.g. the chances data not having a correct start and end frame)

Timing

Period

`period`

Type: integer

Period in which the dribble occurred

Start (Ball Leaves Hand)

`start_game_clock`

Type: float

Game clock (seconds remaining) when ball left dribbler's hands

`start_shot_clock`

Type: float

Shot clock when ball left hands

`start_he_frame`

Type: integer

Hawk-Eye frame when ball left hands

`start_wall_clock`

Type: string

UTC timestamp when ball left hands

End (Ball Touched Again)

`end_game_clock`

Type: float

Game clock when ball is touched again by dribbler

`end_shot_clock`

Type: float

Shot clock when ball touched again

`end_he_frame`

Type: integer

Hawk-Eye frame when ball touched again

`end_wall_clock`

Type: string

UTC timestamp when ball touched again

Handedness

`dribble_hand`

Type: string

right or left — which hand touched the ball last before the dribble

`dribble_end_hand`

Type: string

right or left — which hand touched the ball first after it hit ground

`did_switch_hands`

Type: boolean

true if dribble_end_hand differs from dribble_hand (e.g. a crossover dribble)