NBA 2K27 Shooting Ratings Test

We wanted to test all the usable three point ratings to see how attributes affect your chance of making a shot, and which thresholds you should aim for. So we held the shot button for a fixed number of milliseconds, 100 times, and counted the makes. Then we did it again at the next hold time, and the next, up to 10 of them for every rating from 65 to 99. That is 30,700 jump shots.

The answer is not what most people assume. The part of the window that goes in almost every time is nearly the same size at a 65 as it is at a 99. The part that grows is the margin around it, which is the room to be early or late and still get a make.

What we found
Every rating, one set of axes
What a rating actually buys you
How we tested
The raw numbers
Conclusion

What we found

The 94%+ core±3.1ms → ±3.6msAcross the whole 65 to 99 ladder. Barely moves.

The 70%+ shoulder±5.8ms → ±13.9ms2.4× more room to be wrong. This is what rating buys.

Attempts behind it30,700307 tested combinations, 100 shots each.

Read those two bands together, because either one on its own is misleading. Going from a 65 to a 99 buys you about 0.5ms of extra room on the part of the window that greens on nearly every rep, a difference small enough that neighboring ratings trade places with each other inside it. Over the same ladder it buys you roughly 2.4 times the room on the shoulder, where a shot is not automatic but still usually falls.

In plain terms: rating is not what makes you green. Timing is what makes you green, and rating is what stops a slightly bad release from becoming a brick.

Every rating, one set of axes

Each line is one rating's make rate as the hold time moves through its green window. They land almost on top of each other, which is the first finding on its own: a green window has the same shape at every rating. What separates the lines is out on the shoulders.

All 35 ratings from 65 to 99. Every curve peaks at the same hold time, and they stack almost on top of one another through the middle, because a green window is the same shape at every rating. What separates them is out on the shoulders, where the higher ratings fall away more slowly. Hover any rating on the scale above to trace it.

What a rating actually buys you

The same data, measured rather than drawn: for each rating, how far either side of perfect you can release and still hit a given make rate. The innermost band is the one everyone expects to grow, and it is the one that mostly does not.

How far off the center of your window you can release and still expect the shot to fall, at every rating from 65 to 99. The tight inner band is nearly flat: greening on almost every attempt takes about the same precision at 65 as it does at 99. The outer band is the one that opens up. A 99 keeps a 70% shot roughly 2.4× further off perfect than a 65 does. Each edge is averaged across the two ratings either side of it, because at 100 shots per cell a single rating carries a point or two of sampling slop, and the outer band is drawn from the shallowest part of the curve, where that slop moves it furthest. No make count is changed by that averaging.

How we tested

Shots were taken on an automated testing station that holds the shot button for a set number of milliseconds and then releases it, so the release timing is fixed rather than judged by a human hand. Every millisecond tested is 100 attempts every 5 milliseconds throughout the green window. These shots are open, from the same spot, with no badges, hot zones or boosts in play.

The raw numbers

Every cell we recorded, unsmoothed, so nothing above has to be taken on trust.

The raw grid

rows = ms held · cols = rating · cell = makes per 100

Makes per 100 attempts, by hold time in milliseconds (rows) and shooting rating (columns). Empty cells were not tested.
hold	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
574																			37	38	38	38	42	40	38	40	42	44	41	42	44	43	42	46	45
579						22	25	24	30	39	40	41	38	44	40	24	31	39	38	39	39	40	42	41	43	41	46	48	50	49	47	46	48	50	50
584	38	40	44	46	51	52	59	65	64	61	73	71	77	73	69	61	63	62	65	68	68	68	68	70	68	70	70	70	68	71	72	76	78	78	76
589	46	52	52	51	58	60	63	65	65	67	71	79	76	77	75	67	74	72	73	72	73	73	75	74	76	74	78	76	72	77	75	80	80	81	82
594	97	96	97	96	99	97	97	99	97	96	95	94	96	94	96	96	95	94	95	94	95	95	92	94	94	94	96	95	94	96	98	95	98	94	98
599	98	99	97	94	98	98	98	98	97	98	96	96	95	95	96	94	94	95	94	96	95	93	96	100	98	98	96	96	98	100	96	98	94	98	100
604	62	61	61	65	65	65	65	68	68	72	63	51	50	58	55	69	67	68	67	73	76	74	80	80	78	74	76	82	78	77	76	84	80	82	82
609	55	60	60	61	62	61	61	65	65	66	53	48	48	50	49	68	66	65	67	68	68	66	68	70	72	70	74	78	75	76	76	72	76	76	78
614						23	28	30	30	33	22	21	23	25	25	32	31	32	35	38	43	42	44	46	46	46	44	44	47	48	46	54	52	50	56
619																30	31	32	31	30	38	37	36	39	40	38	42	40	38	44	40	42	46	42	44

20% → 100% make94%+ covered on nearly every repnot tested

The ringed cells are not the green window. They are the hold times where the window's roaming still covered the release almost every time. The window itself reaches well into the mid greens on both sides: those cells greened too, just not on every rep. Reading a column top to bottom gives you one rating's whole curve, and reading the ringed band across shows how little the core of the window moves from 65 to 99.

Conclusion

Shooting attributes matter, but they are not what decides whether a shot falls. Your timing, your jumpshot, your badges and your animations all do more for a make than the rating on its own. What the rating mostly buys you is access to those, which is what the rest of this list is about.

There is no cliff to aim at. Nothing in the results steps at 80, at 85, or at 90. The bands climb gradually the whole way up, so a build that lands one point short of a "breakpoint" is not giving anything away. Spend the points where they change something else.
Rating is insurance, not accuracy. If your timing is genuinely consistent, the difference between a 65 and a 99 on the core of the window is about 0.5ms. If your timing drifts, late in the fourth, contested, off a hard closeout, that is exactly when the wider shoulder pays out.
Aim at the thresholds for badges you will actually run. This is the strongest reason to pick one rating over another, and it is not the same as qualifying for as many badges as possible. In 2K27 you have a limited pool of badge slots and badge tokens per discipline, so meeting a badge's requirement does not mean you can equip it. Pick the shooting badges you will genuinely use, buy the ratings that unlock those at the level you want, and ignore the thresholds for badges that will never make it into your loadout. Badge requirements by rating.
A rating point can still pay you even when it unlocks nothing. Badge tokens and badge slots are handed out according to how much you have invested in each discipline, so pushing your shooting rating up can hand you tokens to spend elsewhere in shooting even when that particular point crosses no badge threshold. Worth checking before you write a rating bump off as wasted. One catch: cap breakers do not grant tokens, so points added that way buy you the rating without the token. Badge tokens.
Attribute points are not the cheapest millisecond you can buy. A jumpshot's Release Window grade and its release speed move the same window, and they cost you nothing on the build screen. Get those right before you spend badge points chasing the last few rating points. Compare measured jumper windows.
Ratings still gate your animations. This test measures the window only. Your Three-Point and Mid-Range ratings also decide which bases and releases you can equip at all, which is a separate and often larger reason to raise them. Animation requirements by rating.

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hold	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
574																			37	38	38	38	42	40	38	40	42	44	41	42	44	43	42	46	45
579						22	25	24	30	39	40	41	38	44	40	24	31	39	38	39	39	40	42	41	43	41	46	48	50	49	47	46	48	50	50
584	38	40	44	46	51	52	59	65	64	61	73	71	77	73	69	61	63	62	65	68	68	68	68	70	68	70	70	70	68	71	72	76	78	78	76
589	46	52	52	51	58	60	63	65	65	67	71	79	76	77	75	67	74	72	73	72	73	73	75	74	76	74	78	76	72	77	75	80	80	81	82
594	97	96	97	96	99	97	97	99	97	96	95	94	96	94	96	96	95	94	95	94	95	95	92	94	94	94	96	95	94	96	98	95	98	94	98
599	98	99	97	94	98	98	98	98	97	98	96	96	95	95	96	94	94	95	94	96	95	93	96	100	98	98	96	96	98	100	96	98	94	98	100
604	62	61	61	65	65	65	65	68	68	72	63	51	50	58	55	69	67	68	67	73	76	74	80	80	78	74	76	82	78	77	76	84	80	82	82
609	55	60	60	61	62	61	61	65	65	66	53	48	48	50	49	68	66	65	67	68	68	66	68	70	72	70	74	78	75	76	76	72	76	76	78
614						23	28	30	30	33	22	21	23	25	25	32	31	32	35	38	43	42	44	46	46	46	44	44	47	48	46	54	52	50	56
619																30	31	32	31	30	38	37	36	39	40	38	42	40	38	44	40	42	46	42	44

hold	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
574																			37	38	38	38	42	40	38	40	42	44	41	42	44	43	42	46	45
579						22	25	24	30	39	40	41	38	44	40	24	31	39	38	39	39	40	42	41	43	41	46	48	50	49	47	46	48	50	50
584	38	40	44	46	51	52	59	65	64	61	73	71	77	73	69	61	63	62	65	68	68	68	68	70	68	70	70	70	68	71	72	76	78	78	76
589	46	52	52	51	58	60	63	65	65	67	71	79	76	77	75	67	74	72	73	72	73	73	75	74	76	74	78	76	72	77	75	80	80	81	82
594	97	96	97	96	99	97	97	99	97	96	95	94	96	94	96	96	95	94	95	94	95	95	92	94	94	94	96	95	94	96	98	95	98	94	98
599	98	99	97	94	98	98	98	98	97	98	96	96	95	95	96	94	94	95	94	96	95	93	96	100	98	98	96	96	98	100	96	98	94	98	100
604	62	61	61	65	65	65	65	68	68	72	63	51	50	58	55	69	67	68	67	73	76	74	80	80	78	74	76	82	78	77	76	84	80	82	82
609	55	60	60	61	62	61	61	65	65	66	53	48	48	50	49	68	66	65	67	68	68	66	68	70	72	70	74	78	75	76	76	72	76	76	78
614						23	28	30	30	33	22	21	23	25	25	32	31	32	35	38	43	42	44	46	46	46	44	44	47	48	46	54	52	50	56
619																30	31	32	31	30	38	37	36	39	40	38	42	40	38	44	40	42	46	42	44