What Is Effective Field Goal Percentage? eFG% Explained

Effective field goal percentage in basketball adjusts a player’s shooting to give the 3-pointer the extra credit it deserves. Plain field goal percentage treats a made 3 exactly like a made 2, which quietly punishes anyone who shoots from deep — even though a 40 percent 3-point shooter produces the same points per shot as a 60 percent 2-point shooter. eFG% fixes that with one small tweak, and it has become the standard way to compare shooters who take very different kinds of shots.

The formula

Effective field goal percentage counts every made 3-pointer as one and a half makes:

eFG% = (FGM + 0.5 × 3PM) ÷ FGA

• FGM = field goals made (all makes, 2s and 3s)
• 3PM = 3-pointers made
• FGA = field goal attempts (all attempts)

The 0.5 is doing the whole job. A made 3 is worth 1.5 times a made 2 — three points versus two — so adding half a make for each 3 captures that 50 percent bonus. A pure 2-point shooter’s eFG% equals their regular field goal percentage; the two only diverge once 3-pointers enter the picture.

A worked example

Take a wing who makes 500 field goals on 1,000 attempts, 200 of those makes being 3-pointers.

• 3-point bonus: 0.5 × 200 = 100
• Adjusted makes: 500 + 100 = 600
• eFG%: 600 ÷ 1,000 = .600

His raw field goal percentage is 500 ÷ 1,000 = .500 — merely average-looking. But because a third of his makes were 3s, his effective field goal percentage jumps to .600, an elite mark. That 100-point gap is exactly the value plain field goal percentage throws away.

What counts as a good eFG%

League-average effective field goal percentage sits around .530 to .540 in the modern game, pushed up by 3-point volume.

eFG%	Rating
.600 and up	Elite
.560 to .599	Very good
.540 to .559	Above average
.520 to .539	Roughly league average
.500 to .519	Below average
Below .500	Poor

The highest marks tend to come from two very different profiles: efficient high-volume 3-point shooters, and rim-running big men who score almost entirely at the basket. Both are producing points cheaply per attempt, just by opposite routes.

eFG% versus true shooting

The one thing eFG% does not capture is free throws. A player who draws fouls and converts at the line is scoring efficiently in a way effective field goal percentage simply cannot see, because free throws never enter the formula. That is the gap true shooting percentage closes — it adds free-throw attempts into the denominator, making it the more complete measure of total scoring efficiency.

A quick way to keep them straight: use eFG% for shot-making from the field, and TS% for total scoring including the line. A slashing scorer who lives at the free-throw line will show a true shooting number well above his eFG%, and that gap tells you how much of his value comes from drawing fouls.

Where it fits

Like true shooting, effective field goal percentage is a pure efficiency rate — it ignores how many shots a player takes. Efficiency on a handful of open looks is not the same as carrying an offense, which is why it pairs naturally with usage rate to weigh efficiency against volume. And for the all-in-one summary that blends shooting with everything else, see our explainer on player efficiency rating.

To see the shooters and finishers who post the best marks, the greatest NBA players is full of them, and the highest-scoring NBA game shows what happens when efficient shot-making meets sheer volume.

Bottom line: effective field goal percentage is makes plus half your 3-pointers over attempts, the fair way to compare inside and outside shooters — .540 average, .600 elite — with true shooting the version that also counts free throws.