Plus-minus measures the impact of a player on their team’s performance. Originally invented by hockey general managers, every player on the ice is awarded a plus when their team scores a goal while every opponent player on ice gets a minus. The higher the plus-minus rating, the higher the net positive of goals scored for a player’s team. In terms of plus-minus, the best player has the highest plus-minus score, and the worst player has the lowest. Plus-minus has also been modified for use in basketball, first by 82games, and now more famously by ESPN

Plus-minus has drawn its share of criticisms; it measures the overall impact of the player on their team’s performance but disregards the individual facets of the player. The rating of the player is heavily influenced by the quality of the teammates the player shares the floor, ice, or field with. For example, if two players are equal in ability, but one shares the floor with a 1990 Bulls Michael Jordan and the other with a 2002 Wizards Michael Jordan, the former is likely to have a higher plus-minus than the latter.

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