Google search glitch says LaVar Ball founded NBA
Commentary: In an embarrassing mistake, Google's search engine decides that the bombastic father of the Lakers star Lonzo founded the league.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
What would a LaVar Ball NBA have looked like?
The machine has replaced the customer in being always right.
Except, that is, when it's flamingly wrong.
For a short time on Tuesday, a search for "NBA founder" offered the answer "LaVar Ball" in a large box on the page.
Should you be a fan of sports or reality TV-style bombast, you'll know that he's the father of Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball.
The rather voluble, self-promoting father who's happy to take on anyone, including the president.
However, given that the NBA has been around for quite a while, you'll figure that LaVar Ball probably didn't found the league, even if he might think he did.
What on earth happened, then?
Google's new public liaison for search, Danny Sullivan, offered a pleasingly detailed explanation on Twitter.
He said that the NBA itself doesn't seem entirely clear who founded it.
The NBA itself says it was born June 1946 in New York City as the Basketball Association of America, established by Walter Brown to fill empty hockey arenas. In 1949, the BAA and the National Basketball League were to form the NBA: https://t.co/quX79gbgWH pic.twitter.com/dqiThvI6Y0
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 2, 2018
But wait.
The NBA itself says elsewhere that at least four people formed the BAA on June 6, 1946 in New York City: Walter Brown, Al Sutphin, John Harris and Ned Irish. It also says the BAA and the NBL merged during the 1948-1949 season to make the NBA... https://t.co/6jH94dm4uv pic.twitter.com/NdR7eQPyxb
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 2, 2018
Ah, but that may not be right either.
On another page, the NBA says it was founded on June 6, 1946 in New York City. Individual founders aren’t named. The first president Maurice Podoloff is. It is noted that the original league name was the BBA... https://t.co/xFu3plEf3z pic.twitter.com/TpVOz2J1Gn
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 2, 2018
Confusing, isn't it? And uplifting that Google's machines matched our very human confusion. They looked around the web to see what information they could find.
Clearly it wasn't consistent. So, in their exasperation, the machines opted for LaVar Ball because he recently proclaimed he was founding the JBA -- the Junior Basketball Association -- for kids who don't want to go to college.
To recap, there are potentially two different dates for when the NBA began. There are between zero & four or more individuals who founded it. There’s also the *Junior* Basketball Association founded by LaVar Ball. At Google, our search engine looked at all this info and goofed... pic.twitter.com/CDpPGTQCG1
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 2, 2018
Yes, but what's the right answer?
The NBA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
For its part, Google's search engine decided to throw all of the NBA's versions up in the air and let them land where any airball might.
Instead, it's plumped for New York City as having founded the NBA in 1946. Which is 21 years before LaVar Ball was born.
It's surely refreshing that Google's machines might be flummoxed by uncertainty.
One can only imagine the company's algorithms silently cursing, as they searched for the right answer.
And what an answer they concocted.
Still, who could discount that in the coming days, the JBA creator won't explain that his spirit was already fully formed in 1946 and flowed through New York City to inspire the great league's creation?
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