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 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: ${\displaystyle eFG\%={\frac {FG+(0.5*3P)}{FGA}}}$

where:

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

[3]

A rough approximation can also be had by: ${\displaystyle eFG\%={\frac {\frac {PPG-FT}{2}}{FGA}}}$

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:

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

where:

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

[4]