Effective field goal percentage

In basketball, effective field goal percentage (abbreviated eFG%) is a statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points, while all other field goals only count for two points.^[1] Its goal is to show what field goal percentage a two-point shooter would have to shoot at to match the output of a player who also shoots three-pointers.^[2]

It is calculated by: $eFG\%={\frac {FG+(0.5*3P)}{FGA}}$

where:

FG = field goals made
3P = 3-point field goals made
FGA = field goal attempts

^[3] A common criticism of this formula is that shooters with very high percentage success rates, which favor 3 point shots, would arrive at an eFG\% above 100%.^[4]

It can also be calculated by: $eFG\%={\frac {\frac {PPG-FT}{2}}{FGA}}$

where:

PPG = points per game
FT = the free throws made
FGA = field goal attempts

The advantage of this second formula is that it highlights the aforementioned logic behind the statistic, where it is pretended that a player only shot two-point shots (hence the division of non-free-throw points by 2).

An additional formula that seems to be more in use by the statistics actually displayed on websites (but less cited by said websites) is:

$eFG\%={\frac {2FG+(1.5*3FG)}{FGA}}$

where:

2FG = 2-point field goals made
3FG = 3-point field goals made
FGA = field goal attempts

^[5]

All three equations yield the same result.

References

^ "Basketball Reference Glossary". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
^ "Effective Field Goal Percentage". The Coaching Toolbox. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
^ "Basketball Reference Glossary". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
^ "Captain Calculator". Captain Calculator. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
^ "Effective Field Goal Percentage". The Coaching Toolbox. Retrieved August 27, 2018.