Plus/Minus Stats in the NBA

A new measure of performance, previously used only in the NHL, is starting to gain ground in the NBA. As sports fans--and sports executives--consistently look for improved ways to gauge a players impact, the plus/minus measurement has gained ground and provided unprecedented insights for professional basketball enthusiasts. By adding all the points the team scores when a player is on the court, and subtracting all the points the team allows when he is on the court, the plus/minus tool has yielded powerful import. If we find the difference between the latter from the former, and you end up with how many points better or worse (i.e., plus or minus) the team fares when that player is in the game.
This rating system shows how some big name players are truly effective for their teams and how other big name players actually seem to hurt their team when they're on the court. Dirk Nowitzki has an 8.8 positive gain for his team when he's on the court and -9.7 effect when he's off. Thus, by finding the difference between the two, we can see that Nowitzki contributes on average 18.5 points to the Dallas Mavericks when he plays. Bonzi Wells, on the other hand, is the hotshot of the Memphis Grizzlies yet when put to the plus/minus test actually appears to be a detriment. His team scores -.8 points when he's on the court and +5.0 when he's off, thus hurting the Grizzlies by 5.8 points in total.
This new statistic may start influencing NBA GM's decisions in the future. Poor Bonzi!

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