Points Responsible For
Points scored plus points created — credits the player for their own scoring and for the scoring they directly produced for teammates.
Credit: Running Net Points toolkit
Why it exists
Points in the box score measure what a player did for himself. They don't measure what he did for the team's offense more broadly. A player who scores 15 points but also generates 8 assists that produce 18 points for teammates is contributing 33 points of offensive value — but the box score lets that second number live entirely in the assists column, separated from the scoring column, with no obvious way to add them up.
Points Responsible For combines both. It counts a player's own scoring and adds the points directly created for teammates through assists. The result is a single number representing the full offensive footprint: not just where the ball ended up, but how it got there.
Formula
PRF = Points_scored + Points_created_via_assists
Points created via assists is computed as the actual points scored on possessions where the player recorded a primary assist. This is not simply assists multiplied by two — a three-point assist generates three points of creation credit, a two-point assist generates two, and a free-throw-drawing assist generates the free throw points the teammate converts. The goal is to credit the value of what was actually produced, not an average across all made field goals.
Worked example
A player finishes with 18 points on his own shots. He records 7 assists. Those 7 assists break down as follows: three went to made three-pointers (9 points), two went to made two-pointers (4 points), one went to a free-throw trip where the teammate made both (2 points), and one assist went to a play where the teammate was fouled but made only one of two. That final assist generates 1 point of creation credit.
Total points created via assists: 9 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 16.
Points Responsible For: 18 + 16 = 34.
The assists column says 7. The points column says 18. The PRF column says 34 — a fuller picture of how much offensive value this player was responsible for generating that night.
How to read it
PRF scales with both usage and playmaking, so high-volume ball handlers who also dish regularly will naturally post higher numbers than role players who specialize in one dimension. Comparing PRF between a primary ball handler and a corner specialist doesn't tell you much; comparing two players with similar roles and usage tells you quite a bit.
| PRF | What it typically means |
|---|---|
| Less than 15 | Low offensive footprint; role player night or limited touches |
| 15 – 25 | Solid contributor; producing on both ends of the offensive equation |
| 25 – 35 | High impact; either scoring at volume or creating heavily for teammates |
| More than 35 | Star-level offensive output; elite scoring and creation in combination |
Limitations
PRF can also be inflated by teammates who are excellent finishers. A point guard whose assists disproportionately find elite shooters will naturally post higher PRF than one who distributes to a less efficient group, even if the quality of the playmaking is comparable. This is worth keeping in mind when evaluating players on teams with very different personnel around them.
Like any counting stat, PRF accumulates with minutes. Per-game PRF comparisons should account for differences in playing time, and per-possession or per-36-minute versions are more useful for evaluating players who sit on different ends of the rotation.