“Don’t know how to explain plus-minus but I know minus is bad!”: Carmelo Anthony hilariously reacts to having the highest plus-minus in Lakers loss to the Hornets

Carmelo Anthony admits that he doesn’t know what box score plus-minus is but knows that having a negative +/- is bad. 

Carmelo Anthony has been teetering on the edge of being classified as a ‘journeyman player’ for quite some time now. He spent less than half a season with the Rockets, one season with the Thunder prior to that, had two stellar campaigns with the Blazers, helping rejuvenate his career, and is now with LeBron James and the Lakers. 

Despite being 37-years old, Melo has been quite the player for the purple and gold in one aspect alone: floor spacing. Having LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook out on the floor at the same time doesn’t leave space for players who can actually provide some much needed shooting.

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Carmelo Anthony has re-invented his game in his stage of his career to be that guy. He’s averaging near identical stats to his previous season with Damian Lillard and company, putting up 13.4 points on38% shooting from beyond the arc. 

Carmelo Anthony on his plus-minus from last night. 

With the way Carmelo Anthony approached the way all throughout his career, it’s evident that he never paid attention to the stat sheet night in and night out. And well, why should he when he was one of the best scorers in the league for well over a decade. 

Last night’s bout against the Charlotte Hornets saw the Lakers put up quite the second half display of bravado with Russell Westbrook leading the charge. Melo didn’t have all too efficient of a shooting night but did knock down his free throws and was 5/12 overall from the field.

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Even though he had a poor shooting, he was a team high +20. Following the game, a reporter asked Anthony about this to which he replied by saying he doesn’t even know what +/-. 

“I don’t even know how to explain that…I know minus is bad.” 🤣 @carmeloanthony (led LAL in +/- with +20) when asked if he pays much attention to the plus-minus statistic. @LakersReporter pic.twitter.com/2tr5DGJZHN

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 29, 2022

To be fair, if you’re going to be a net positive for your team, looking up your stats and knowing what they mean doesn’t really matter anyway.