True Shooting Percentage Calculator
Enter points, field goal attempts, and free throw attempts to get true shooting percentage (TS%) — the most complete single-number measure of scoring efficiency. Add makes to also get effective field goal percentage (eFG%), and pick a season to see exactly how elite (or ordinary) your TS% would have been.
How you compare
Your TS% vs. the actual NBA league average for the season you picked
How true shooting works
True shooting percentage answers one question completely: for every real scoring opportunity a player used — not just field goal attempts, but the extra value baked into 3-pointers and the possessions represented by trips to the free-throw line — how many points did they produce? That makes it the closest single number to overall scoring efficiency, which is exactly why the same raw TS% can mean very different things in different eras: the league itself has gotten more efficient over time as 3-point volume and shot selection have improved league-wide.
How it’s calculated
TS% = Points ÷ (2 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA)). eFG% = (FGM + 0.5 × 3PM) ÷ FGA, shown only when field goals made and 3-pointers made are entered. The 0.44 coefficient approximates how many true field-goal-equivalent attempts one free throw attempt represents, accounting for and-one plays, technical fouls, and 2-shot trips together.
Educational estimate for any stat line you enter — not an official NBA or league statistics feed.
Worked example
A player scoring 24 points on 16 field goal attempts and 6 free throw attempts (9 field goals made, 2 of them 3-pointers) has a true shooting percentage of 24 ÷ (2 × (16 + 0.44×6)) = 24 ÷ 37.28 = 64.4%. Effective field goal percentage, which only credits the extra 3-point value and ignores free throws, comes out to (9 + 0.5×2) ÷ 16 = 62.5%. Checked against the 2025-26 season, where the NBA league-average TS% was 58.1%, that 64.4% is comfortably above average.
Common mistakes
- Comparing a raw TS% across eras without picking the matching season — league-average TS% has climbed from the low 50s to the high 50s (percent) since the early 2000s.
- Forgetting eFG% needs field goals made and 3-pointers made, not just attempts — leave those optional fields blank and only TS% will show.
- Treating TS% as a hard-capped percentage — small samples (a hot single game) can technically exceed 100%.
- Using plain field goal percentage to judge 3-point shooters, which undervalues the extra point a make is worth.
Where it is used
- The standard advanced-stats measure of scoring efficiency on player pages and broadcasts.
- Comparing high-volume scorers against efficient role players on a level footing.
- Season-over-season and player-comparison analysis once adjusted for the right league context.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the true shooting formula use 0.44 for free throws?
The 0.44 coefficient is an empirically-derived estimate of how many "true" field-goal-equivalent possessions one free throw attempt represents, since most trips to the line come in pairs or are mixed with and-one free throws and technical fouls rather than clean two-shot fouls. Basketball-Reference and other stat sites have used 0.44 as the standard league-wide approximation for decades because it tracks possession usage closely enough at a league level, even though the true value shifts slightly by season and by player shooting style.
Was 58% true shooting good? It depends which season.
A 58% TS% was well above average in the mid-2000s — the NBA league average was about 52.9% in the 2004-05 season, so 58% put a player roughly 5 points above the league that year, an elite-tier gap. By the 2025-26 season, league-average TS% had climbed to about 58.1%, so the same 58% is now almost exactly average. Pace, spacing, and the 3-point revolution pushed league shooting efficiency up significantly over 20 years — always check TS% against its own season, not a fixed number.
What's the difference between TS% and eFG%?
Effective field goal percentage (eFG%) adjusts only for the extra value of a made 3-pointer, using field goal attempts as the denominator; true shooting percentage (TS%) goes further and folds free throw attempts into the denominator too, capturing the value of getting to the line. TS% is considered the more complete efficiency number because it credits players who draw fouls and convert free throws, not just players who make field goals.
Why is TS% considered better than plain field goal percentage?
Plain field goal percentage treats a made 3-pointer the same as a made 2-pointer and ignores free throws entirely, so it can make an inefficient high-volume 2-point scorer look similar to a genuinely efficient 3-and-free-throw scorer. TS% weights 3-pointers for their extra point and adds free throw attempts into the shot-value calculation, giving a much more accurate single number for overall scoring efficiency.
Can TS% be over 100%?
Yes, in short samples — a player who scores efficiently on a small number of true-shooting attempts (for example, all 3-pointers and-one plays) can post a TS% above 100% in a single game or a few games, since the formula has no hard ceiling. Over a full season, sustained TS% above roughly 65-70% is exceptionally rare and only achieved by elite, high-efficiency, often role-limited scorers.