The Glove is the Second Worst Player in the NBA

Based on the Lenovo Stat, Gary Payton of the Miami Heat trails only Charlotte's Gerald Wallace as the worst player in the NBA.

According to NBA.com, "The Lenovo Stat is a plus/minus statistic that looks at the point differential when players are both in and out of the game." Basically, it's a plus/minus statistic very similar to the one in hockey.

What I like about the stat is that it literally tells you what a certain player means to the team. It helps quantify the effects of role players like Shane Battier, Luke Walton or Eric Snow. Plus this is the defining stat for guys who kill teams when they are on the floor, like Smush Parker.

As of December 19th, Gary Payton's plus/minus is a paltry -139, trailing only Wallace's score of-160. Just to give you an idea how bad GP's score is, the lowest plus/minus on the worst team (Sixers) is a -121 by Willie Green.

We're talking nine-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton here, not just your average player. I know his defensive skills have fallen to where he's more of a mitten than a glove, but his veteran moxie should prevent such a poor rating. But given that he's a little banged up, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Actually, this tells me that Miami will to continue to have depth problems at the point until they can swing a trade (Earl Watson anyone?).