PIR
Performance Index Rating, the EuroLeague's own official all-in-one number. It adds up everything a player does well and subtracts everything he does badly, in a single figure the league puts on every box score.
The pack lands around 8.0. This season's leaders are out on their own:
- 1 Sasha Vezenkov Olympiacos 22.0
- 2 Elijah Bryant Hapoel Tel Aviv 19.6
- 3 Nikola Milutinov Olympiacos 19.2
What PIR measures
Every league wants one number that answers "how good was he tonight?" The EuroLeague built its own. PIR is not an outside metric borrowed from the NBA; it is the league's native index, printed on official box scores and used to name the Round MVP and the season MVP. Because it is simple and additive, anyone can follow how it was built from a single game.
How PIR is calculated
PIR = (Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks + Fouls Drawn) − (Missed Field Goals + Missed Free Throws + Turnovers + Shots Rejected + Fouls Committed)
Every positive action counts +1 and every negative counts −1, which is what makes a player's PIR easy to rebuild straight from a box score.
The catch
PIR rewards volume as much as efficiency
Because every positive action is worth the same +1, a player who does many things at average efficiency can out-score a specialist who does one thing brilliantly. A high-usage star will usually post a big PIR simply from touching the ball constantly. Read it next to true shooting to see whether the volume was actually efficient.
PIR undervalues defense and the things box scores miss
PIR can only count what the box score records. Steals and blocks are in, but a great closeout, a smart rotation, a screen that frees a shooter or the gravity of an elite scorer are not. A lockdown defender can post a modest PIR while changing the game in ways the number never sees.
PIR is a EuroLeague stat, so compare it within the EuroLeague
PIR uses the EuroLeague's own formula and its 40-minute game. Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and PIE use different formulas, different baselines and, for PER, a different league. A PIR of 15 tells you a lot about a EuroLeague season and nothing directly about an NBA one. Always compare within the same competition.
Seen in a game
PIR rewards players who fill the box score. A guard with 16 points, 6 assists and 2 steals and a center with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks can post nearly identical PIRs, because the index values every kind of positive action the same way. It is at its best as a quick, league-official read on who carried a game, and at its weakest when a player pads it with empty volume.
Common questions
- What is PIR in basketball?
PIR stands for Performance Index Rating, the EuroLeague's official all-in-one stat. It sums a player's positive actions (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and fouls drawn) and subtracts the negatives (missed shots, turnovers, shots blocked against him and fouls committed) into one number.
- How is PIR calculated?
Add points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and fouls drawn, then subtract missed field goals, missed free throws, turnovers, shots rejected against him and fouls committed. Each positive is worth plus one and each negative minus one, so you can rebuild any player's PIR straight from the box score.
- What is a good PIR in the EuroLeague?
A rotation player sits around 5 to 8, a solid starter 10 to 13, and a star pushes 15 to 18. A season average above 20 is MVP territory. Sasha Vezenkov led 2025-26 at 22.0.
- Is PIR the same as PIE or PER?
No. PIR is the EuroLeague's own official index. PIE (Player Impact Estimate) expresses a player's share of all activity as a percentage, and PER is a pace-adjusted per-minute scale built for the NBA. All three are all-in-one numbers, but the formulas and scales differ, so compare each only within its own context.
