Player Efficiency Rating
A composite per-minute rating that attempts to summarise a player's total statistical contribution into a single number, adjusted so that league average equals 15.
No single box score statistic captures a complete player. Points miss efficiency. Assists miss turnovers. Rebounds miss their context. PER — developed by John Hollinger — aggregates all positive and negative box score contributions into one number, adjusted per minute so that playing time doesn't inflate it. It gives a quick single-number answer to the question: how productive was this player when they were on the floor? The league average is always calibrated to 15, making it easy to benchmark across seasons.
Benchmarks
- League average: 15
- Good: above 18
- Elite: above 22
- All-time great season: above 28
PER was designed for the NBA and calibrated to NBA data. In EuroLeague, where the game is slightly slower and scoring lower, treat absolute PER figures as relative rankings within the competition rather than direct comparisons to NBA benchmarks. EuroLeague's native equivalent is PIR (Performance Index Rating).
In EuroLeague, PER is most useful as a relative comparison tool — ranking players within the same season. A player posting PER 22 in EuroLeague is genuinely elite for that competition. Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos once again leads the league in PIR at 22.7 in 2025–26, combining scoring (19.2 points per game), rebounding (6.5), and efficiency in a way that PER rewards heavily. His teammate Nikola Milutinov (19.6 PIR) demonstrates another path to elite production — dominant interior work with a league-best 76.6 free throw rate and 3.1 offensive rebounds per game. Both profiles illustrate what PER captures: volume and efficiency across multiple statistical categories.
Tensions
John Hollinger himself acknowledged that PER does a poor job of measuring defense. Steals and blocks are the only defensive contributions counted, and they're imperfect proxies for defensive impact. An elite defender who doesn't steal or block but contests every shot and takes the opponent's best player out of the game will have a mediocre PER. Never use PER as a complete player evaluation.
Because PER aggregates counting stats, a player who takes 20 shots per game will accumulate more positive contributions than one taking 10 — even if both shoot the same percentage. High usage inflates PER slightly in ways that don't reflect true value. Always check Usage % alongside PER.
Formula
PER = (Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks − Missed FG − Missed FT − Turnovers) adjusted per minute, normalised so league average = 15.
The full formula applies position-specific and pace adjustments developed by John Hollinger.
PER: Player Efficiency Rating / uPER: Unadjusted PER / lguPER: League Unadjusted PER / lgPER: League PER
