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Carmelo Anthony has been in the NBA for 19 seasons now, but he still does not understand analytics any better than anyone else.
The Los Angeles Lakers forward spoke to reporters Friday after the team’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets. When one reporter mentioned that Anthony had a team-best plus-minus of +20, Anthony offered a funny response.
“I don’t even know how to explain that,” said the ten-time All-Star. “I don’t even know what that is. It is what it is. I know a minus is bad.”
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Check out the hilarious video (at the 0:53 mark)
"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
The best part is that plus-minus is one of the more basic analytics. It is simply a team’s point differential when a certain player is on the floor. But Anthony does not care about that and is focused on getting buckets only.
You have to admire Anthony’s purist approach to the game, especially for a guy who has now scored 28,000 career points in the NBA. One of Anthony’s star teammates would probably agree with his stance on analytics as well.