What Is Plus/Minus in Basketball? Meaning, Stats, and How It Works
In basketball analytics, plus/minus — often shown as “+/-” — is a fundamental statistic used to measure a player’s overall impact on the game beyond traditional box score numbers like points, rebounds, or assists. Rather than focusing on what an individual scores or rebounds, plus/minus tracks how a team’s scoring performance changes when a player is on or off the court. This metric gives fans, coaches, and analysts insight into shifts in momentum, lineup effectiveness, and which players seem to help their team outscore opponents when they are playing.
Plus/minus has become a widely referenced stat in modern basketball because it captures team performance with a player on the floor, rather than isolating individual box score achievements. While it doesn’t tell the whole story on its own, understanding plus/minus helps explain lineup combinations, the flow of a game, and even why some players may struggle statistically in certain contexts. However, the stat’s usefulness is best appreciated over larger samples, such as full seasons or extended stretches, rather than a single game — where extreme values can occur due to team performance rather than individual play.
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What Plus/Minus Means in Basketball
Plus/minus (+/-) measures the difference in the score while a player is on the court. If a player’s team scores more points than the opponent during their minutes, that player earns a positive number. Conversely, if the team is outscored, the player’s plus/minus becomes negative. For example, if a player is on the floor and their team scores five more points than it allows during that time, his plus/minus would be +5 for that game or stretch.
This stat helps capture team impact because it reflects how lineups perform together, not just individual statistics. A strong positive number often suggests that things go well for a team when the player is on the court, while a negative number indicates the opposite, though context is critical in interpretation.
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How Plus/Minus Is Calculated
The basic calculation is straightforward:
Team points scored while player is on the court
− Team points scored while player is on the court by the opponent
= Player’s plus/minus.
If a team outscores its opponent by 10 points while Player A is on the floor, Player A’s plus/minus for that period is +10. If they are outscored by 8, it’s −8. Summed across all minutes played in a game or season, these values produce a cumulative plus/minus.
While simple in concept, this stat is influenced by all teammates and opposition players on the floor at the same time, which means it reflects lineup performance rather than purely individual contribution.
Practical Example: Record-Setting Plus/Minus
Plus/minus can produce striking numbers in extreme games. In March 2024, Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers recorded a −58 plus/minus in a single game, marking one of the worst such figures in NBA history. Portland lost that game by 60 points, and because Henderson played most of the minutes, his plus/minus reflected the team’s heavy deficit while he was on the court.
Importantly, that number doesn’t necessarily mean Henderson performed worse than every teammate on an individual basis — it mainly reflects the overall team performance during his minutes, especially in a severely lopsided loss.
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Advantages and Limitations of Plus/Minus
Advantages:
●Captures impact beyond traditional stats by showing how point differential changes with a player on the floor.
●Offers insight into lineup cohesion and which combinations generate positive scoring margins.
●Useful over large samples to gauge contributions that don’t show up in box score totals (e.g., defense, spacing).
Limitations:
●Strongly influenced by teammates and opposition quality, making it a less reliable indicator of individual play in isolation.
●Can fluctuate dramatically in single games, especially in blowouts, leading to misleading interpretations.
●Doesn’t distinguish context — such as garbage time or defensive matchups — without deeper analysis.
Plus/Minus in Modern Basketball Analysis
Today’s advanced analytics often build on raw plus/minus by adjusting for lineup quality, teammates, and opponents. Variants like Adjusted Plus/Minus (APM) and Real Plus/Minus (RPM) aim to isolate a player’s contribution more accurately by accounting for who else is on the floor. Even so, raw plus/minus remains a foundational step for many lineup and impact evaluations, especially when used over larger time frames rather than single games.
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Conclusion: Why Plus/Minus Matters
Plus/minus isn’t a perfect stat, but it enriches basketball analysis by emphasizing team performance with a player on the court. When interpreted correctly — especially over extended periods and alongside other metrics — it helps reveal which players and lineups truly move the needle beyond individual scoring totals or rebounds. As basketball analytics continue to evolve, plus/minus remains a vital part of understanding performance in a sport defined by constant player interaction and flow.
