Efficiency and rate stats
PER
What does PER mean in basketball?
球员效率值Player efficiency rating
John Hollinger’s composite: every positive and negative event on the sheet, weighted by an estimated value, reduced to a per-minute score and then rescaled so that the league average is always exactly 15.00.
Updated 20 Aug 2026
Worked through
Fifteen is always average, around 20 is All-Star level and past 25 is MVP territory. It is rescaled every season, so comparisons across eras hold up.
What it leaves out
PER is built almost entirely from the box score, and the box score barely records defense, so it systematically overrates scorers and underrates defenders. Treat it as an overview, not a verdict.
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One term down, the whole sheet to go
The numbers on a sheet lean on each other. How many free throws appear depends on the team foul count; how many rebounds exist depends on how both teams shot. Reading a whole game means reading them together.