Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the general field goal percentage. Instead of using scales of 0 to 100%, the scale .000 to 1.000 is commonly used. A higher field goal percentage denotes higher efficiency. In basketball, a FG% of .500 (50%) or above is considered a good percentage, although this criterion does not apply equally to all positions. Guards usually have lower FG% than

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

s and centers. Field goal percentage does not completely tell the skill of a player, but a low field goal percentage can indicate a poor offensive player or a player who takes many difficult shots. In the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, Center

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

had a high career FG% (around .580) because he played near the basket making many high percentage layups and dunks. Guard

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...

often had a low FG% (around .420) because he took the bulk of his team's shot attempts, even with high difficulty shots. The NBA career record for field goal percentage is held by DeAndre Jordan at 0.673. Currently, the highest field goal percentage record for a single season is 0.742 by

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

center Mitchell Robinson which was set during the abbreviated 2019–20 season. Before Mitchell Robinson, NBA Hall of Fame player Wilt Chamberlain held the record from 1971-1972 to 2019-2020 with a season high field goal percentage of 0.727. Field goal percentages were substantially lower in the NBA until the mid-to-late 1960s. For this reason, many early NBA stars have low field goal percentages, such as Bob Cousy at .375, and George Mikan, Bob Pettit, and Bill Russell, whose career field goal percentages of .404, .436, and .440, respectively, are much lower than later post players. Three-point field goal percentage is usually kept as additional statistics. Its abbreviation is 3FG%. A 3FG% of .400 and above is a very good percentage.

References

Basketball terminology Basketball statistics Percentages {{Basketball-stub

See also

References