What is plus/minus?
Plus/minus records the point swing while a player is on the floor: if his team outscores opponents by 9 during his minutes, he is +9. Raw totals depend heavily on minutes, teammates and matchups, so normalizing per 36 minutes makes players comparable.
How the calculator works
Enter a total plus/minus (season or game), the minutes behind it and optionally games played. The tool returns per-36 and per-game rates.
Common use cases
- Contextualizing bench units' impact
- Spotting lineup quirks behind a star's on/off numbers
- Debating award candidates with a pace-neutral number
Formula & caveats
Plus/minus is noisy in small samples — single-game values are close to meaningless, and a player's number inherits his teammates'. Multi-season on/off and adjusted variants (RAPM) are the serious tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good plus/minus per 36?
+3 or better across a season is a clear positive impact; −3 or worse is a liability.
Why is per-36 fairer than totals?
It removes playing-time bias so a sixth man can be compared to a starter.
Can a bad player have a good plus/minus?
Yes — riding a great lineup inflates it. That is why adjusted plus/minus exists.
Privacy & Your Data
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