This type of shot in NBA 2K25 is almost impossible to miss
By Brian Allen
Look, I've gone on record saying I wish we didn't need pie charts and graphs to figure out NBA 2K's shooting. But we do, and thankfully the folks at NBA 2K Labs are good at that sort of thing. One of the many options in NBA 2K is rhythm shooting.
The game's tutorials explain rhythm shooting thusly:
Instead of simply pressing and releasing the shot button or stick, you first pull the shot stick DOWN to start the shot. Then, as you see your player's jump shot animation reach its Set Point, you push the shot stick UP and try to match the timing and speed of the player's Push motion.
As I mentioned, NBA 2K Labs has been doing impressive work on this. They decided to find out if rhythm shooting was truly an advantage over simple button shooting. Advantage doesn't begin to describe it. Their research indicates that rhythm shooting generates a green window that is a whopping 70 percent larger than button shooting.
2K Labs also notes that it's better to be early on the push timing than late. NBA 2K's best players want there to be a skill gap between them and us flithy casuals, which is understandable. Also, many of these moves are to combat zen cheaters.
People often cheat or glitch because they lack skill at the game. In theory, every place 2K makes the game reward skill is a place that should make it more difficult to cheat. So far, these efforts appear to have made it harder for honest players, maybe not so much for the cheaters. But that's starting to be another rant.
The biggest takeaway here is that rhythm shooting is far superior to button shooting. Should it be? That's a different conversation, and one we will have at some point. But right now, what's clear is that rhythm shooting offers a huge advantage over button shooting.